Press releases

Due to the addition of the pump faster melting of alloy additions as well as charged material is achieved. This means: reduced energy costs and improved productivity. Commissioning is scheduled for March 2004. 

Universal Rotary Tilting Furnace for EPALME
EPALME, Inofita Viotia/Greece, have placed an order with Hertwich Engineering, Austria, for the supply of a Universal Rotary Tilting Furnace (URTF-3) for recycling of scrap and dross. 

Characteristics for the HE-URTF are highest aluminium yield and lowest specific energy consumption. 

The URTF-3 is designed for production capacities of 48 ton scrap/day or 44 t dross/day. 

It is the smallest furnace unit in this series, which includes furnace sizes up to URTF-14. Commissioning is scheduled for May 2004. 

Plant for remelting of aluminium swarf for OTTO FUCHS METALLWERKE  
OTTO FUCHS METALLWERKE, Meinerzhagen/Germany, have placed an order with Hertwich Engineering, Austria, for a remelt plant for melting of aluminium swarf. 

The melting capacity for preheated swarf is 2.5 tons/h, for cold swarf 1.8 tons/h. Swarf with a residual moisture content of up to 2 % can be charged. Due to the use of the latest regenerator burner technology and special stirring technique with an electromagnetic side channel pump, metal losses and energy consumption can be kept extremely low. Commissioning is scheduled for July 2004.

The S.I.M.A.C. scope of supply includes a cut-tolength group, scrapping shear, bar braking facilities, rotating channels, power and automation and all the necessary ancillary facilities. 

The mill will have a capacity of 40 t/h producing plain rounds and rebars from 5.5 to 8.5 mm at the maximum speed of 38 m/s. 

The new mill is scheduled to go into full production in the second quarter of 2004.

The S.I.M.A.C. scope of supply includes a cut-tolength group, bar braking facilities, rotating channels, bar counters, power and automation and all the necessary ancillary facilities. 

The mill will have an annual capacity of 500,000 t producing plain rounds and rebars from 8 to 16 mm at the maximum speed of 40 m/s. 

The new mill is scheduled to go into full production in the second quarter of 2004.

The modernisation measures - with the aim of being able to roll higher bloom weights in future - cover the blooming stand, the side guard manipulators and the work roller tables upline and downline of the stand. The complete erection will be carried out by SMS Meer in summer 2004.

Compared with semi-automatic or fully automatic lines, the tandem reversing process has the benefit that far fewer rolls and guides are required for the rolling programme and hence offers not only a greater flexibility but also lower conversion costs. 

The maximum web height of the rolled sections will be 500 mm; the maximum flange width 260 mm. The initial pass is prerolled on a two-high reversing stand, with the final rolling on a tandem reversing group. Here the XH® rolling method patented by SMS is employed. This method has established worldwide in the meantime for the rolling of such products. The tandem reversing stand group incorporates CCS® stands (Compact Cartridge Stands). These are characterised by close product tolerances thanks to the hydraulic adjustment systems and flexible operation for a wide range of products with minimum roll changing times.

SMS Meer is to supply all the key components of the mill equipment, including media systems, technological automation based on a comprehensive quality assurance system, as well as services such as project management and the supervision of erection and commissioning, including training of the operating personnel. 

The mill will be designed for the production of seamless pipes - predominantly oilfield tubulars - in the diameter range from 139.7 to 365.1 mm (5 1/2" to 14 3/8"). The planned capacity of the mill is 500,000 t/a, produced in three-shift operation.

In the mid-80s the CSST was the first supplier of large-diameter oilfield tubulars in PR China. This new investment will enable the company to expand its market position among the international modern steel tube makers. 

The new CSST mill will include i. a. a cone-type piercer for piercing even extremely heavy billets with diameters up to 390 mm. The quality assurance system incorporates two LASUS® units (Laser Ultrasonic Hot Wall Thickness Measuring System) for the direct measurement of wall thicknesses downline of the individual forming steps, and thereby creating the preconditions for a pipe quality that will reliably meet the high demands of the world market even in the future. 

In combination with an existing DIESCHER mill, CSST is now in a position to cover the whole pipe diameter range from 60.3 to 365.1 mm. 

Commissioning of the mill is scheduled for the end of 2005.

Under this order with a total value of around €47.0 million, SMS Meer is to supply the key components of the line, together with the quality assurance system and the technological automation. The quality assurance system incorporates two LASUS® units (Laser Ultrasonic hot wall thickness measuring system) for the direct measurement of wall thicknesses downline of the individual forming steps, and thereby creating the preconditions for a pipe quality that will reliably meet the high demands of the world market even in the future. 

The SMS Meer scope also includes services such as project management and the supervision of erection and commissioning. Parts of the equipment will be produced in cooperation between Chinese and German engineers. 

In the light of the recent extensive experience, SMS Meer will design the mill for the MPM technology. Innovative features of the mill being implemented for the first time include a 12-stand sizing mill with individual roll drive. 

The pipe works operates not only two Assel mills but also a mandrel mill plant that was supplied by SMS Meer in 1994 for the small pipe diameters up to 4 1/2". This line is employed specially for heat exchanger tubes. 

With the existing lines and the new line together, the pipe mill in Hengyang will have a total production capacity of 1.0 million tonnes per year. 

Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2004/ beginning of 2005.

After only two months hot commissioning, the mill reached the contractual output of 42,000 tonnes per month (500,000 tonnes per year) and produced merchantable wire rod in the size range from 5.to 22 mm with rolling speeds of up to 120 m/s. The contractually guaranteed output had already been exceeded by 20% in October. 

The aim of the modernization for the customer is to be in a position to roll quality steels with very close rolling tolerances and to achieve special product properties by thermomechanical online processing for elimination or reduction of downstream heat treatment. 

Apart from the conventional mechanical equipment, the scope of supply includes electrical equipment, services, the engineering for the local manufacturing and the modernization of the coil transport facilities. 

Of particular note among the newly integrated equipment are: 

A new eight-stand wire rod block of UHD design (Ultra Heavy Duty) 

The patented multiline loop concept to guarantee a high degree of utilization, combined with optimized technological rolling paths and rolling temperatures of min. 750°C, both upline of the finishing block and upline of the FRS® (Flexible Reduction and Sizing) block. 

Shiftable water cooling sections, controlled fully automatically via the CCT® system (Controlled Cooling Technology) with the benefits of constant temperatures over the rod lengths, extremely homogeneous laying temperatures within minimum temperature windows, as well as improvements in microstructure and mechanical properties. 

"One family rolling", that means the same pass sequence through the whole mill line, from the entry into the roughing mill to the exit from the wire block. 

FRS® (Flexible Reduction and Sizing Block) for final rolling of the whole size range from 5 to 22 mm as a new development with the benefits of a higher degree of utilization, first-class tolerances, higher production flexibility, lower roll ring consumption, smaller increase in temperature during rolling and improved conditions for temperaturecontrolled and thermomechanical rolling. 

Coil forming chamber/ring distribution system with the benefit of more compact and more uniform coil forming thanks to reduced drop heights and controlled wire rod entry into the coil forming chamber 

Flexible production and maintenance simultaneously. Keeping the highest production rate by optimization of rolling path selection which enables preparation of the wire rod block for the next order lot or block maintenance during rolling of big sizes on the FRS®.

The pipe mill is designed for an annual capacity of around 450,000 t and will be erected in Kolpino, St. Petersburg. Erection and commissioning of the whole plant are scheduled for 2005. After completion, this pipe mill will be internationally one of the most modern of its kind. 

The technical configuration of this latest order is based on the orders successfully completed in the past few years or recently received by SMS Meer for large-diameter pipe plants of similar design for Welspun, India, Julong Steel Pipe and Shashi Steel Pipe, PR China, Sadid Industrial Group, Iran, and JSC Vyksa Steel Works, Russia. 

Longitudinal SAW pipes with diameters from 610 to 1422 mm, wall thicknesses up to 40 mm and lengths up to max. 18.3 m will be produced in the new pipe mill. The use of 18.3 m long pipes reduces the laying costs in the field, as roughly 35% less connecting welds have to be made by comparison with the pipe lengths of 12 m generally employed. The pipes manufactured in grades up to X80 far surpass not only the demands of the API 5L standard, but also meet all other international standards. 

SMS Meer is to supply all the machines and equipment for the new large-diameter pipe mill. These include i. a. a plate edge milling machine, plate edge crimping press, pipe forming press, tackwelding machine, mechanical expander, hydrostatic pipe tester and facing and chamfering machines, as well as all the transport facilities and the installations for comprehensive quality control. 

All machines and equipment are linked by interconnecting longitudinal and cross-transfer conveyors that have been optimized to prevent damage to the pipes and to reduce noise. 

The key technology in a large-diameter pipe mill is the forming process that essentially dictates the product mix that can be manufactured with respect to the material grades, dimensions and production capacity. The JCOE forming process developed by SMS Meer using the forming press as main forming aggregate has been able to establish itself on the market in recent years against the UOE process and the 3-roll bending process due its greater flexibility, highest quality and lower investment costs. In the JCOE process the plate, milled and crimped at the edges, is fed step-by-step using manipulators to the forming tool in the pipe forming press where it is formed over the whole plate length. This results in an open-seam pipe with plane-parallel plate edges ready for welding. The pipe forming press operates with a press force of 100 MN. 

The JCOE pipe forming process is the most suitable process for being able to also produce smalldiameter pipes with large wall thicknesses. This will enable the market segment for offshore pipelines to be served, too, such as e.g. for the planned pipelines under the Baltic Sea to Germany. 

Apart from the forming process and the pipe welding, the mechanical expander also has a crucial influence on the pipe quality. 

The mechanical expander serves to straighten and size the pipes. By gradually cold forming the pipes over an expanding head inserted into the pipe, resulting in a plastic deformation of between 1.0 and 1.5 %, the pipes are sized from the inside after final welding and straightened over their entire length. This inside sizing facilitates the later laying of the pipes as the cross-sections are optimally matched. This aspect is particularly important when pipe sections have to be cut in the field, as the pipes are sized over their whole length. The deformation of the pipe to beyond its yield strength subjects pipe body and weld seam to an extreme load above that to be expected later in the laid pipeline. Furthermore, this deformation also compensates the internal stresses created during forming of the pipe. 

In addition to the hydrostatic test, extensive nondestructive tests are also performed to check the quality of the pipe. The hydrostatic pipe tester subjects the pipes to an internal pressure load close to the yield strength and well above the later operating pressure of the pipeline. The whole weld seam is tested ultrasonically and X-rays are taken of all weld seam ends. 

The automation of the whole pipe mill is based on a decentralized control concept that guarantees independence of the individual systems, and hence ensures high plant availability. Integration of the individual systems into a complete interconnected operation is ensured by networking within the control level.

Quality-relevant data recorded within the individual production and test processes are stored redundantly in a higher-ranking computer system. This data storage offers the possibility of certification for each individual pipe according to the requirements of the respective standards. 

The software components for automation of the pipe mill are produced by SMS Meer for the machines, the transport facilities and the quality assurance system. Here the many years of experience in the field of manufacturing machines and plants for pipe production can be exploited, and the existing program resources continuously further developed. 

The whole production and test process in this modern, automated pipe mill therefore guarantees pipes of the highest quality with the outstanding physical and mechanical properties demanded for gas and oil pipelines today.

Von Moos Stahl AG, Switzerland, part of Swiss Steel AG, has placed an order with SMS Meer, Mönchengladbach/ Germany, for the modernization of the wire rod finishing line in Emmenbrücke, Switzerland. 

The main features of the supply are a new highspeed pinch roll unit and a loop laying head. The laying head is equipped with facilities for reliable laying of the end loop (laying worm) onto the coil cooling conveyor and at the same time opens up the possibility of wobbling (speed oscillation). 

In order to shorten the laying tube changing times, the laying tube holder will be designed as a quickchange unit.

The installation of the new pinch roll unit and loop laying head will extend the product range of the wire rod finishing line to cover diameters from 5.5 up to 22.0 mm. 

In future this will permit the dimensions 16.5 to 22.0 mm to be rolled from the bar finishing line directly to the loop laying head, by-passing the wire rod block. 

The new plant components are already designed for a future final rolling speed of 100 m/s for the 5.5 mm diameter. 

The modernization will be carried out during the scheduled plant shutdown for the annual maintenance in summer 2004.

Since 1992, the Chinese Tianjin Pipe Corporation (TPCO) in Tianjin has been very successfully operating an MPM mandrel mill plant (Multistand Pipe Mill) that with its current production of approx. 800,000 t/a surpasses the originally planned capacity by more than 50%. With the support of SMS Meer GmbH, Mönchengladbach/Germany, this mill that was originally designed for a pipe diameter range from 4 1/2 to 10 3/4 inch was extended for a maximum pipe diameter of 14 inch. Since the beginning of 2004, TPCO is in a position to produce pipes up to this dimension. 

In order to extend the product range also to smaller diameters, TPCO placed an order with SMS Meer in 2001 for a second mandrel mill for the diameter range from 1 1/4 to 6 5/8 inch. The plant was delivered in 2002. At the beginning of September 2003, one month earlier than originally planned, the first pipe was successfully produced over the whole line. It is designed for a planned production of 350,000 tonnes per year and constructed for the first time worldwide as a PQF® mill (PQF stands for Premium Quality Finishing). 

The majority of the production is concentrated on a PQF pass of 185 mm, starting from a billet of 200 mm diameter. The shell produced on the PQF® is reduced to 175 mm in the extracting mill and rolled out to the finished tube size range from 1.9 to 6 5/8 inch on a stretch-reducing mill (SRM). A second PQF® pass of 142 mm will be provided in future for smaller finished pipe diameters down to 1 1/4 inch. 

The conventional mandrel mill technology with retained mandrel bar that was previously employed only in a 2-roll arrangement was industrialized for the first time in 1978 with Dalmine's 14 inch plant and gradually achieved global acceptance thanks to continuous optimization. In the meantime, this sophisticated technology has established itself worldwide as the leading method for the production of quality pipes. 

A large number of demands on the rolling process are satisfied 

The PQF® concept as implemented for the first time by TPCO allows the technological limits of the conventional 2-roll MPM process to be overcome by the use of the 3-roll technology. Thanks to the development leap, the demands made for many years by pipe manufacturers for a further improvement in the product can be satisfied for the first time. These demands call for: 

- Rolling of premium quality products, combined with a high production flexibility 

- High stability of the rolling process, a basic precondition also for the application of full and reliable process automation; both factors essential for consistent premium quality, and 

- A significant reduction in the production costs. 

Apart from the introduction of the 3-roll technology, the PQF® mill at TPCO contains further major new developments, such as: 

- Innovative cone-type piercer for the production of pierced billet with the closest tolerances, 

- PQF® and extracting mill in 3-roll technology with hydraulic adjustment and individual roll drive, 

- Mandrel bar circulation system that combines the benefits of the retained bar and the freefloating mandrel ("semi-floating extracting system"), 

- Stretch-reducing mill with 6-motor drive and adjustable final stands, 

- CARTA® Technology System for the individual machines and the whole line, 

- LASUS® wall thickness measuring systems, and 

- QSS quality assurance system. 

The PQF® mill was built in close cooperation between Chinese and foreign partners. The key equipment for the technological line was supplied by SMS Meer in conjunction with SMS Demag INNSE, Italy. 

Good rolling results even during the commissioning phase 

The product mix in the initial productive phase included pipes with six very different sizes between 168.3 x 18.3 and 48 x 4 millimeters. Up to the end of December 2003, 22,000 mother tubes (approx. 17,000 tons) had been produced. This first phase of production has shown clearly that the two main demands made on the PQF® process, close wall thickness tolerances and the stability of the rolling process, are completely satisfied. The measurements performed on pipe samples have revealed that on heavy, light and medium wall thicknesses, the tolerances of ± 5% are significantly better than the typical tolerances on the MPM. 

From the very outset, rolling on the PQF® was very smooth and stable, with no stickers or defects on the tubes. The development boost for seamless tube production offered by the use of the PQF® technology will become the standard in future for the production of quality tubes.

The order placed by JSC Chelyabinsk, Russia, with SMS Meer GmbH, Mönchengladbach/Germany, for the supply of a single-head mechanical expander will be delivered in the second quarter of 2004. 

The mechanical expander will be used to expand longitudinal SAW steel pipes with diameters from 20" (508 mm) to 48" (1219 mm) and lengths from 10 to 12.2 m in material grades up to X70. The wall thicknesses range from 7.0 to 22.2 mm. The maximum expander force in the main cylinder is designed for 7.5 MN. 

The orders for expanders with similar parameters recently received (Julong Steel Pipe and Shashi Steel Pipe, both PR China, Sadid Industrial Group, Iran, Wan Chi Steel, Taiwan, and JSC Vyksa Steel Works, Russia) and the short delivery time thanks to the available technical know-how were among the deciding factors for the placement of the order with SMS Meer GmbH. 

The main tasks of the mechanical expander are to size and straighten the pipes. Gradual cold forming of the pipes over an expanding head inserted into the pipe results in a plastic deformation of between 1.0 and 1.5 %, so that the pipes are sized from the inside after final welding and straightened over their entire length. This inside sizing facilitates the later laying of the pipes as the cross-sections are optimally matched. This aspect is particularly important when pipe sections have to be cut in the field, as the pipes are sized over their whole length. The deformation of the pipe to beyond its yield strength subjects pipe body and weld seam to an extreme load above that to be expected later in the laid pipeline. Furthermore, this deformation also compensates the internal stresses created during forming of the pipe. 

Due to their physical and mechanical properties and their geometric quality expanded pipes are being increasingly employed in gas and oil pipelines. 

Erection and commissioning of the mechanical expander are scheduled for 2004.

JSC Vyksa Steel Works, Russia, has placed an order with SMS Meer GmbH, Mönchengladbach/Germany, for the modernization of its large-diameter pipe mill 1020.

The existing large-diameter pipe mill in which pipes up to 1020 mm diameter are produced using the UOE process is to be expanded to include a parallel production line with equipment designed for the JCOE pipe forming process developed by SMS Meer, so that pipes up to strength class X80 with a maximum diameter of 1420 mm and wall thicknesses up to 48 mm can be manufactured.

The SMS Meer scope of supply comprises the key machines for the new pipe production line. These include a plate edge milling machine, plate edge crimping press, pipe forming press, tack welding machine, mechanical expander and hydrostatic pipe tester. While the plate edge milling machine was already integrated into the production line in January 2004 after a short erection and commissioning time, the
delivery of the other machines is scheduled for mid-2004.

The plate edge milling machine is used to simultaneously machine the two longitudinal edges of the hot rolled plates. The plate lengths lie between 9.0 and 12.2 m.

The plate edge milling machine serves both forming lines and is therefore designed for extremely high throughputs of more than 40 plates per hour. Two milling heads are installed on each side of the machine. The milling heads with their indexable carbide cutters operate fully automatically under program control. This technology has the advantage over other plate edge machining processes that it ensures optimum preparation and a very high quality of the pipe weld seam and clean, burr-free cut edges without cold forming and short, easily discharged chips. Furthermore, the cutting speed is optimized in relation to the plate material and the plate width oversize. Further benefits are short tool changing times, a low noise level and a reduction in material and machining costs.

The JCOE pipe forming process developed by SMS Meer using the forming press as main forming aggregate has been able to establish itself on the market in recent years against the UOE process and the three-roll bending process due its greater flexibility, highest quality and lower investment costs.

In the JCOE process the plate, milled and crimped at the edges, is fed step-by-step by manipulators to the forming tool in the pipe forming press where it is formed over the whole plate length. This results in an open-seam pipe with plane-parallel plate edges ideal for welding. The pipe forming press designed as a long-stroke press operates with a maximum press force of 65 MN. Pipe forming up to wall thicknesses of 40 mm is performed with a forming blade, wall thicknesses up to 48 mm are formed using the folding blade. This allows on the one hand large quantities of pipes to be formed, and on the other hand special dimensional requirements to be served.

The JCOE pipe forming process is the most suitable process for also being able to produce small-diameter pipes with large wall thicknesses. This will enable the market segment for offshore pipelines to be served, too.

In the continuous tack welding machine, the 60 to 100 mm wide slit between the two longitudinal plate edges resulting from the forming process are positioned parallel to one another in a roller cage and then continuously tack welded under inert gas. This tack weld serves as a weld pool backing during the subsequent submerged arc welding process. The guide rollers of the roller cage are set individually by servo hydraulics and can be adjusted under load, if necessary, so that the longitudinal plate edges are positioned optimally relative to one another.

In order to meet the high technical demands in the thick wall range during the hydrostatic pipe test, the hydrostatic pipe tester operates with a maximum clamping force of 55.5 MN and test pressure up to 55 MPa. At test pressures < 25 MPa, end face seals are used; at test pressures > 25 MPa to < 55 MPa, SMS Meer employs special internal seals. The hydrostatic pipe tester is designed as a sturdy tierod press. Four tie rods form a frame together with the filling side and the venting side. The press is equipped with a tandem pressure booster to build up the test pressure.

Following the modernization with the SMS Meer technology, the JSC Vyksa large-diameter pipe mill will meet all international standards, such as e. g. the DNV 2000. The ever higher demands made by the Russian companies from the oil and gas sector – such as e. g. Gazprom, Yukos, Transneft – for the use of pipes of the highest quality can now be satisfied from national production.

The Baotou Steel Union Co. Ltd., PR China, has placed an order with SMS Meer GmbH, Mönchengladbach/Germany, for the supply of two CNC pipe threading machines and a hydrostatic pipe tester for the pipe size range from 60.3 to 244.5 mm. 

These machines form the key elements in a new finishing line for further processing of seamless tubes produced on a mandrel mill supplied by SMS Meer/INNSE. 

The annual production of tubes to be processed on the machines totals around 150,000 tonnes. 

The two thread cutting machines operate on the principle of “stationary tube - rotating tools” and are equipped with a cutting head with externally mounted – and therefore easily changed – cutter tools. 

Production of the outside thread to API 5CT, including facing and chamfering of the pipe ends, is performed in a single pass. The guaranteed thread tolerances are half the demanded API tolerances.

Thanks to the selected tool concept, a performance of more than 150 pipes per hour can be achieved.

The hydrostatic pipe tester is designed as a single-head tester with a maximum test pressure of 130 MPa and a clamping force of 3150 kN, thereby meeting the testing demands of all the international codes and standards. Furthermore, a special sealing tool system is employed that, depending on the test pressure, permits a service life of the test tools of more than 15,000 pipes.

Delivery of the equipment is scheduled for the end of 2004.

After a plant standstill of just three weeks, SMS Meer GmbH, Mönchengladbach, has successfully modernized and recommissioned the two-strand high-speed wire rod mill at Badische Stahlwerke GmbH (BSW) in Kehl am Rhein, both Germany.

The two-strand high-speed wire rod mill achieves an annual production capacity of 1.25 million tonnes of wire rod in the diameter range from 5.5 to 14 mm.

Following successful modernization of the five-stand roughing mill I of the high-speed wire rod mill at Badische Stahlwerke carried out by SMS Meer in January 2001, SMS Meer received a follow-up order in October 2002 for the remaining eight stands of the roughing and intermediate mill.

As in the previous order, the new equipment supplied essentially comprised horizontal stands of the proven full-frame design. The four new stands five to eight of the roughing mill received new drive spindles and pinion gear units, while the existing gear units of the new stands nine to twelve continued to be used. Furthermore, the intermediate mill was equipped with four new ABB medium-voltage 3-phase AC motors, Type ACS 6000

During the Christmas closure 2004/2005, the two rotary shears between roughing mill II and intermediate mill I will also be replaced by SMS Meer.

The Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Union Co., Ltd., China, has placed an order with SMS Meer GmbH, Mönchengladbach/Germany, for the supply of a new rail and section mill for its Baotou works. 

The new mill will produce rails, beams, U-sections, angles and special sections as well as square billets. The total capacity of this mill is over 900,000 tonnes per year. The rails are produced using the universal rolling method on a tandem reversing stand group in which the Compact Cartridge Stands (CCS® stands) are again employed. These stands are characterized by quick programme changing and are equipped with a hydraulic adjustment system to permit close rolling tolerances. More than 37 stands of this stand generation have been sold to date. 

The rolling of rails on a tandem reversing group is a process developed and patented by SMS Meer that is already successfully in operation at numerous rail manufacturers worldwide, such as INI Steel, Korea, Steel Dynamics, USA, and Anshan, China. 

The new mill consists of two duo reversing roughing stands, a tandem reversing mill with two universal duo stands and an edging stand. Downline of the tandem mill is an automatic stamping machine for individual marking of the rails and a walking beam cooling bed with a device for prebending the rails. The rails are straightened exclusively on a horizontal/vertical roller straightener that was already commissioned last summer. 

SMS Meer GmbH is to supply the process automation and technological control systems for highly dynamic hydraulic roll gap adjustments for the tandem stand group and for the duo reversing roughing stands, as well as training and supervision of the erection and commissioning of the rolling mill line. 

Commissioning of this plant is scheduled for mid-2005.

After Anshan and Panzhihua, this is now the third order received by SMS Meer recently for a new rail mill for China.

Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), part of the Steel Authority of India (SAIL), has straightened the first 80 m long rail with its new rail straightener. The new straightener supplied by SMS Meer GmbH, Mönchengladbach/ Germany, as leader of an international consortium erecting a turnkey plant is the heart of the expansion project for the production of long rails. The plant was commissioned after a short erection period of only 16 months. 

As the largest rail producer in the world, BSP is now in a position to manufacture rails meeting the highest straightness demands and with a low residual intrinsic stress level. 

The new rail straightener consisting of a horizontal straightener with eight rollers and a vertical straightener with seven rollers is designed for a maximum production of approx. 200 t/hour and is thus the straightener with the world’s highest capacity.

The bar and wire rod mill at ELBE-Stahlwerke FERALPI GmbH in Riesa, modernized by SMS Meer GmbH, Mönchengladbach (both Germany), has successfully gone back into production after a plant standstill of only four weeks. An output of 1600 tonnes per day was achieved even in the first week of production after the plant standstill. 

The primary aims of the modernization of the mill that was originally erected in 1995 were greater flexibility and an increase in the rolling speed to max. 105 m/s. 

The SMS Meer scope of supply essentially comprised the delivery of two cantilever roll stands, a four-stand wire rod block and a six-stand wire rod block, as well as a water cooling section, pinch-roll units and loop laying head upline of the existing loop cooling conveyor, training and supervision of the erection and commissioning of the mill. 

The mill is to produce rebar up to 32 mm and wire rod sizes upward of 5.5 mm.

Nakamura Iron Works (head office in Higashi Ward, Nagoya City; President: Soichiro Nakamura), Japan, has placed an order with SMS Meer, Mönchengladbach/Germany, for the supply of an 8000 t open-die forging press. 

This strategic investment, the largest press at Nakamura Iron Works, is being made to reduce costs and improve the qualities of the materials that are difficult to process. 

The plant in Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture, is specialized in the opendie forging of high-grade materials such as non-ferrous alloys (copper, aluminum, titanium), tool steel, stainless steel and high-alloy materials. Its monthly production capacity is 1000 tons. The forgings are used as component parts for industrial machinery, ships and vessels, aircraft and nuclear power plants. Nakamura Iron Works is market leader in these segments. 

The plant currently has five forging presses, the largest of which for 4000 tons. The microstructure of the non-ferrous metals such as copper alloys h