Konecranes wins order for 19 industrial cranes from Maaden Rolling Company in Saudi Arabia Konecranes will supply 19 industrial cranes to Saudi Arabian Maaden Rolling Company's rolling mill in the new industrial zone of Raz Az Zawr north of Jubail.

The order was received during the first quarter 2011. Delivery of the cranes will start in September 2011 and will be completed in March 2012. The parties have agreed not to disclose the value of the order.

The Maaden Rolling Company is JV owned 74.9% by Saudi Arabian mining company Maaden and 25.1% by Alcoa. The company is building the Middle East's first fully integrated aluminum smelter and food grade can sheet rolling mill in Saudi Arabia. The rolling mill is part of a world class refinery, smelter and rolling mill complex. First production from the mill is anticipated in 2013.

Four of the cranes, two for ingot handling and two for coil handling are fully automated. Their automation capability will interface with the Manufacturing Execution System automation that controls the plant. The order also includes two fork type stacker cranes, 35 tonne molten metal reclamation crane and 12 of Konecranes newest generation SMARTON cranes featuring PLCs as standard equipment. The SMARTON incorporates an impressive array of smart crane features designed to improve safety, reduce energy consumption by up to 30% and prevent damage to high value goods and production equipment.

Both the ingot handling cranes and the coil-handling cranes must be able to communicate with all of the other automated machineries throughout the plant to complete the rolling process, in which the original ingot becomes a coil just one tenth of an inch thick.

(Sourced from www.euroinvestor.co.uk)