Outokumpu Stainless AB, Sweden, has awarded SMS Demag, Germany, a contract to modernize the KBR-L 76 stainless steel annealing and pickling line at its Avesta works.

As part of the modernization project, chemical and electrolytic process sections of the line will be equipped with new tanks and rollers, a new platform, and a stainless-steel drip pan. In addition, SMS Demag will upgrade the recirculation systems and the intermediate rinsing tank.

Avesta works’ stainless-steel annealing and pickling line is designed to handle particularly wide and thick stainless-steel strip. It processes 1.5- to 13-mm thick hot and cold strip at widths ranging between 1250 and 2100 mm. In addition to standard grades, special and duplex steels are processed at a maximum speed of 36 meters/minute. The annealing and pickling line is rated for an annual production of around 300,000 tonnes.

The revamp is scheduled to take place in July 2007 during a two-week line shutdown.

SMS GmbH is the holding for a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering relating to the processing of steel, non-ferrous metals and plastics. The group is divided into SMS metallurgy, which includes the Business Areas SMS Demag and SMS Meer, and into the Business Area SMS Plastics Technology. In the year 2005 some 9,250 employees worldwide generated a turnover of about EUR 2.33 billion.