Production has commenced at a new section and rail mill at Panzhihua Iron & Steel Co., P.R. China. The plant was installed by a consortium headed by SMS Meer GmbH, Germany.

The mill consists of two duo-reversing stands, two universal working groups and a finishing stand. Stands were equipped with the proven CCS^® technology to all automatic quick-changing. The 105 meter long, 43 meter wide cooling bed includes facilities for prebending the rails.

Rails are produced on the new mill using the universal rolling method. With this high-performance plant, Panzhihua Iron & Steel, a leading rail manufacturer in China, can now produce rails of up to 100 meters long with the close tolerances necessary for high-speed rail transport.

Commissioning started with the rolling of 60 kg/meter rails to a rolled length of 105 meters. The plant went into production roughly four weeks before the scheduled date.

SMS Meer GmbH forms part of the Tube, Long Product and Forging Technology Business Area of the SMS group. The SMS group is internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering relating to the processing of steel, non-ferrous metals and plastics. The group is divided into the Business Areas of Metallurgical Plant and Rolling Mill Technology, Tube, Long Product and Forging Technology and Plastics Technology. In the year 2003 around 9500 employees worldwide generated a turnover of around EUR 2.20 billion.