In January 2011, Siemens started up a bar mill at the Chinese steelmaker Handan Iron & Steel Co. Engineering, manufacturing and delivery were completed in less than six months and the first bar was rolled after an additional period of only six months. This was made possible by the fully standardized design, the optimized manufacturing chain and the systematic activities of Siemens project management allowing rapid project execution as well as plug-and-produce system startup.

The rolling mill is designed to produce an approximate annual 800,000 tons of special bar quality steels and expands the production capacity and product range of Handan Iron & Steel, replacing the outdated production equipment with a new high end productivity line.

Siemens supplied the mechanical equipment for the new bar mill, including a six stand roughing train, an eight stand intermediate line and a six stand pre finishing mill. Each of the rolling stands is equipped with RedRing technology. The bar mill was also equipped with a three stand sizing train.

The Siemens scope of supply also consisted of portions of the cooling system, pinch rolls, a convertible dividing shear, a fixed shear with a cutting force of 1,200 tonnes, guides, equipment for the oil air lubrication system and spare parts, including fifteen rolling stands.

Handan Iron & Steel Co belongs to the Hebei Iron & Steel Group Co Ltd, one of the leading steelmakers of China. The group produced more than 40 million tonnes in 2009.