The Panzhihua New Steel & Vanadium Co., Ltd., P.R. China, has placed an order with SMS Meer, Germany, for the supply of three cold saws for a new section and rail mill currently being erected by SMS Meer.

The three new saws, which will be used to cut section layers for the finishing section, are designed as carriage saws and can take saw blades with diameters up to 1,800 mm. Two saws will operate in parallel, with the first saw precutting the strands into double sale lengths and the second saw cutting the sections into finished lengths. The third saw will be used to cut short lengths. The SMS Meer scope of supply also includes two adjustable length stops.

Commissioning is scheduled for September 2005.

SMS Meer GmbH forms part of the Tube, Long Product and Forging Technology Business Area of the SMS group, a group that is internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering relating to the processing of steel, nonferrous 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 9,500 employees worldwide generated a turnover of around EUR 2.20 billion.