Apparatus for and method of continuous casting

A continuous casting apparatus comprising:

• a fixed mold formed by facing wide side mold walls and facing narrow side mold walls,
• said narrow side mold walls forming a squeezed portion with decreasing width in a casting direction and an adjoining constant width section leading from the squeezed portion to a mold outlet,
• and a heater heating the narrow side mold walls over a full extent of said squeezed portion.

A method of continuously casting on ingot from molten metal, comprising the steps of:

• continuously supplying a molten metal to a fixed mold, said fixed mold formed by facing wide side mold walls and facing narrow side mold walls, each of said narrow side mold walls comprising an upper squeezed portion and a lower parallel portion, said upper squeezed portion having a surface in contact with the molten metal which converges in width along a casting direction, said lower parallel portion having a surface in contact with the molten metal which is substantially uniform in width, and
• heating said molten metal which is in contact with said upper squeezed portion over a full extent of said upper squeezed portion.