Feb. 2007 — Siemens’ Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S) division recently received a contract from the Chinese steel producer Tangshan Stainless Co. Ltd. to supply the automation for a new hot strip mill.

Siemens’ scope of supply comprises the complete basis and process automation after the reheat furnace for the reversing roughing mill with hydraulic edger, a coil box, the 6-stand finishing mill, the laminar cooling section, and the coiler as well as for the coil transport system. Siemens will also supply the technological control systems as well as the process models for the individual mill sections, plus the visualization system for the new hot strip mill. All of the installed components and systems are part of the Siroll HM integrated solution concept for hot-rolling mills. The automation is characterized by a high degree of standardization.

With the new rolling mill, the company will expand its production spectrum to include hot-rolled strip with a width of up to 1430 millimeters. The new plant will be capable of producing three million tonnes of steel strip, of which 1.2 million tonnes will be stainless steel. Integrated operating and observation systems with user-friendly process and plant diagnosis functions will help to facilitate mill operations.

Siemens is also responsible for assembly and installation of the supplied systems as well as for their start-up. The mill drive systems will be provided by Chinese companies and will be primarily comprised of Siemens components. Start-up of the new rolling mill is scheduled for December 2007.

Tangshan Stainless Co. Ltd., a daughter company of the Tangshan Iron and Steel Group, operates a steel works in Tangshang, Hebei Province, approximately 200 km east of Peking. The current annual production capacity is about 2.4 million tonnes of hot metal and crude steel.

Metals Technologies (MT), a division of the Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S), is one of the world's leading engineering and plant-building companies for the iron and steel industry as well as for the flat-rolling sector of the aluminum industry and for open-cast mining. MT, which was created from the integration of Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau, Linz/Austria and the electrical engineering product business and automation solutions of Siemens, provides a comprehensive range of supplies and services for all related technological processes and integrated automation solutions for the entire life-cycle of metallurgical plants.

The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) is the integrator of systems and solutions for industrial and infrastructure facilities and global service provider for the plant and projects business covering planning, installation, operation and the entire life cycle. I&S uses its own products and systems and process technologies in order to enhance productivity and improve competitiveness of companies in the sectors of metallurgy, water treatment, pulp and paper, oil and gas, marine engineering, open-cast mining, airport logistics, postal automation, intelligent traffic systems and industrial services. In fiscal 2006 (to September 30) I&S employed a total of 36,200 people worldwide and achieved total sales of EUR 8.819 billion.