ITA reported that in July 2009, the Chinese copper wire producer TCICO, Tianjin of China commissioned its second CONTIROD CR 3500 continuous copper wire rod plant. The plant with an annual capacity of 150,000 tonnes of rolled wire rod was supplied and erected by SMS Meer, Mönchengladbach, Germany.

SMS Meer supplied the entire technical equipment for this plant which was commissioned within just 17 months after signing of the contract.

The new CONTIROD plant was installed in the immediate vicinity of the first line that was commissioned in 2001. It has a casting capacity of 25 tonnes per hour with a casting cross section of 5,400 square millimeters and a casting speed of approximately 10 meters per minute. The standard finished size is 8.0 millimeters diameter.

The plant consists of a shaft type melting furnace and a 20 tonnes holding furnace. The CONTIROD plant is equipped with a Hazelett twin belt caster and a continuous rolling mill of 12 mill stands with individual drives, as well as modern electrical equipment for automatic process control in order to ensure very good wire rod qualities.

As with the first plant, energy saving variable frequency Phase III AC motors was chosen for the main drives of the fans and the mill.

The investment is part of TPCO’s strategy to expand its production capacities in order to increase its market shares in the booming copper wire rod market. The copper wire rod is intended for both the domestic market and for export.

(Sourced from International Tube Association)