Consortium leader SMS Demag AG, Germany, has successfully commissioned a single-strand continuous slab caster for the Chinese Baosteel Group Shanghai No.1 Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. The caster went into operation three months ahead of the official schedule.

The vertical bending type continuous caster is equipped with the requisite systems, process and automation technology, including a resonance-oscillation mould fitted with an optimized oscillation model for enhanced surface quality. The caster is also equipped with SMS Demag’s patented soft reduction technology, which supplies actual data relating to slab thickness and dynamically controls the segment adjustment, minimizing core segregation and preventing formation of central porosities. The caster produces slabs that are 180 to 200 mm thick and 750 to 1,600 mm thick. The annual capacity of the entire steelworks is 720,000 tonnes.

As consortium leader, SMS Demag provided engineering, the core components, the automation concept, and supervision of erection and commissioning. Design and construction of the new slab caster is identical with that of continuous casters erected at Shanghai No.1 by SMS Demag, namely a single-strand facility for stainless steel and two single-strand facilities for carbon steel grades.

SMS Demag AG forms part of the Metallurgical Plant and Rolling Mill Technology Business Area of the SMS group. 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 the Business Areas of Metallurgical Plant and Rolling Mill Technology, Tube, Long Product and Forging Technology and Plastics Technology. In the year 2004 some 9,500 employees worldwide generated a turnover of about EUR 2.20 billion.