CISDI became fully operational again in mid March, after the lifting of China’s COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

The company’s strict protocol for virus prevention and control during the outbreak protected the health of its entire staff. No member of staff caught COVID-19. Office life resumed with social distancing measures in place and daily health checks.

However, despite the problems caused by the pandemic, CISDI reports a strong first quarter in 2020,

Completion of drawings for steel clients increased by 161 per cent on previous years and output was kept on schedule for clients in China and overseas.

In the same period, new contracts increased by 131 per cent on previous years.

But with COVID-19 now severely affecting countries around the globe, CISDI’s overseas marketing, construction management and operations teams are now facing numerous challenges.

Top priority is being given to the safety and health of overseas staff and helping to support global clients experiencing difficulties.

Proactive steps have been taken to smooth overseas business and implement strict pandemic controls at all of its foreign subsidiaries.

 

Pandemic control measures overseas

As the situation worsened around the world, CISDI HQ developed pandemic prevention and control procedures to protect its 76 employees working across subsidiaries and projects in nine different countries and regions.

An executive-led, emergency response working group is now overseeing their safety.

Said a CISDI spokesperson: “The commitment and dedication of our international workers is ensuring projects run to schedule and we are doing our utmost to ensure they are protected from the spread of the virus.”

CISDI operations in the UK, USA, Brazil, Vietnam, Malaysia, India and Turkey and other foreign project sites have adaptive pandemic control plans and emergency solutions in place. Training and rehearsal drills have also been conducted and each location has supplies of first aid and protective equipment.

 

Strict body temperature monitoring routines are in place at the access gate to CISDI’s project site at Formosa Ha Tinh Steel in Vietnam

 

CISDI UK employees communicating with international project teams via video conference calls

 

All international staff followed pandemic control regulations and worked from home during March and April.

Marketing and sales managers are holding daily phone calls and video meetings with customers and partners to avoid travel.

Their hard work and dedication has so far minimised customer losses and delays. No planned work had to be suspended during these months and three hot mill orders for TATA Steel’s Port Talbot Plant were won by CISDI UK.

 

Staying safe on site

During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, a number of CISDI staff posted overseas chose to remain abroad rather than return to China.

Others based in China volunteered to go to overseas sites to provide technical assistance.

•            Vietnam’s Formosa Ha Tinh Steel site

Multiple projects are being carried out at the plant.

Eight CISDI-led sub-contractor technicians are on site to support the production of the blast furnaces.

The plant’s pig machine 2 was the first project to be restarted. CISDI assisted the customer’s construction supervisor in mobilising the construction workers to enter the site.

CISDI guided construction of the civil structures remotely online and managed to hit all scheduled milestones. The team will now facilitate equipment installation.

CISDI team was the first to the skin pass mill 3 site for launching its commissioning.

CISDI first arrived at the CDQ plant to prepare for sub-supplier’s equipment commissioning.

The project was on the verge of grinding to a halt because of a shortage of guide bearings for the bar and wire-rod mill. The Spring Festival holiday and then the COVID-19 pandemic had meant contracted suppliers in Taiwan and Vietnam were not able to send their products. CISDI Vietnam’s team was able to solve the problem, delivering bearing parts within two weeks.

 

CISDI engineers and a MCC19 construction worker (centre) working on FHS’s pig machine

 

A CISDI engineer helps to prepare FHS’s skin pass mill 3 for commissioning

 

•            Turkey’s Isdemir gas holder site

CISDI’s POC-type gas holder has now been installed at Turkey’s largest steel enterprise, Isdemir.

Isdemir and the local construction company were worried whether work could progress when construction of the foundations coincided with Europe’s outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So two of CISDI’s main technical specialists braved the journey to Turkey to help.

On arrival they had to go into isolation for 14 days before being tested for signs of the virus.

Both employees were eventually declared virus-free and were allowed on site.

Their isolation period was far from wasted, though; they used the time to solve numerous technical construction problems and pulled together construction plans via phone calls and video meetings.

Their expertise gave Isdemir’s team and the build workers the confidence to proceed and construction was kept on-schedule.

 

CISDI’s two engineers, with a member of the gas holder project in Turkey

 

•            Bolivia’s ElMutún site

Seven CISDI specialists have been providing total process consulting services at Bolivia’s first integrated mill plant, ElMutún, throughout the pandemic.

When two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Bolivia in early March, the project team immediately launched CISDI’s emergency response plan and contacted the local Chamber of Commerce for Chinese Enterprises to share the information.

The team was supplied with PPE by CISDI’s subsidiary in Brazil and conducted a disinfection of the site offices, canteen and dormitory.

 

 

CISDI staff in facemasks at an ElMutún site meeting

 

CISDI donates PPE to steel companies around the world during the pandemic

CISDI has now donated thousands of protective face masks to steelworkers across 10 countries.

Staff at the company’s overseas subsidiaries and project sites have also been sent supplies.

In total, 22,000 masks have already been distributed.

A further 32,000 masks, plus 550 pairs of disposable gloves and protective suits, are also due to be sent out from supplies CISDI bought in March during a shortage of PPE in China.

“We are ensuring our overseas workers are protected but feel it is also our duty to help our customers and partners around the world in this crisis. We have sent out 65 batches of PPE to 56 recipients and there is more to follow,” said a company spokesperson.

Messages of thanks have come in from Indonesia’s Gunung Steel, Canada’s Hatch HQ, Danieli in Italy, ArcelorMittal in North America and Brazil’s Gerdau Acominas plant.