Orleans Steelworks

Part of the industry series of articles.

Atlantic Department Company
Private Corporation in Vekllei
Industry	Steel
Headquarters	Soualiga
Founded	2020
Employees	600
Traded as	ORL
Accounted Revenue	AK ✾ 20 billion
S.A.

The Orleans Steelworks S.A. is a large integrated steelworks in Vekllei, located in the republic of Soualiga. It is the third-largest integrated steel mill in the country, and occupies a compact 800 acre site on Steel Island in a brine lagoon in the town of Orleans. It produces around 1.5 million tonnes of steel per year from iron sourced mostly from Guinea and Mauritania. The company employs around 600 people, the majority of whom are locals on part-time contracts.

The company is one of the largest privately-owned heavy industrial concerns in Vekllei, and was founded by a prominent local Orleans family in the early postwar period as a means of securing Commonwealth investment in what is now the Soualiga Technical School and the island railway. Like all Vekllei heavy industry plants, it is heavily automated and most processes are roboticised.

The site is the largest single works in the republic, and comprises a number of units.

Processing Plant

• Coke Ovens 1 & 2
• Sinter Works: Processes iron ore fines into sinter for blast furnaces.
• Flux Works: Crushes and prepares limestone for fluxing.

Steel Works

• Blast Furnaces 1 & 2: Produce molten pig iron from iron ore, coke, and limestone.
• Orleans Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF): Convert pig iron into crude steel using oxygen.

Mettallury Works

• Metallurgy Works: Refines steel by adjusting its composition.
• Continuous Casting Works: Shapes molten steel into slabs, billets, or blooms.

Finishing Mill

• Hot & Cold Rolling Works: Produces sheets, plates, bars, and coils.
• Coating & Galvanisation Works: Applies protective layers to steel products.

Other Buildings

• Electricity Generation & Transmission Plant: Plant subtation and backup generators.
• Water & Brine Treatment Plant: Supply and recycle water for cooling and processing.
• Conveyor Building: Power station for site conveyors and electric railways.

High levels of brine were recorded in Great Bay in 2056, which is adjacent to the mill’s main works and saline ponds, and prompted a review of operations by the Bureau of Oceans. The investigation found brine contamination of waters around the mill had seriously damaged the surrounding marine ecosystem, and barriers were constructed to prevent the further contamination. The brine ponds were also moved away from the coastline.

In 2060, the Orleans Steelworks celebrated its 40th birthday and erected an iron girder as a monument to the occasion in the capital of Marigot.