Siemens VAI Metals Technologies has received an order from Baosteel Engineering & Technology Co Ltd. to supply a new bar mill to the Shaoguan Iron and Steel Group. The plant for producing alloyed round bars with diameters up to 80 millimeters with sizing technology will be installed in Songshan in the Guangdong province, south China and is scheduled to commence operation in early 2013.

For the new bar mill in Shaoguan, Siemens is to supply a four-stand prefinishing mill, a four-stand finishing mill, a crop shear, a precision sizing mill and three cooling sections for thermo mechanical processing. The two rolling mills are equipped with Red Ring stands in HVHV configuration. The three-stand PSG precision sizing mill is designed to achieve tolerances of less than 20% of the values specified in the relevant DIN standards, and is equipped with a dedicated air/oil lubrication system.

A dividing shear in the entry section of the cooling bed and a new cold cutting area with two abrasive disc saws round off the mechanical equipment. The scope of supply from Siemens will also include the basic automation and Siroll mechatronics packages for sizing mill, the cooling sections, the shears, the cut optimization, and the cold cutting saws.

Around 460,000 tonnes of alloyed round bar stock with diameters between 20mm and 80mm can be produced per year in the bar mill.

The Shaoguan Iron and Steel Group, which is majority-owned by the Baosteel Group, is China’s biggest steel producer with an annual output of around 40 million metric tons.