Valin ArcelorMittal Automotive Steel Co., Ltd. (VAMA) has ordered a combined pickling line and tandem cold-rolling mill from Siemens VAI Metals Technologies. The line is part of a new cold-rolling complex being erected at Loudi in the Chinese province of Hunan. After the first stage of construction, the line will produce 1.5 million tons of cold rolled strip per year, primarily for the automotive industry. The order volume is within the mid-double-digit million euro range. Start-up of the new pickling line and tandem cold-rolling mill is scheduled for mid 2014.

Siemens is engineering and supplying the entire mechanical and electrical equipment, including auxiliary equipment such as the hydraulic, pneumatic and safety systems, for the combined pickling line and tandem cold-rolling mill of VAMA in Loudi. The cold rolling and pickling line are being equipped with a common and consistent automation system consisting of basic (Level 1) and process (Level 2) automation and special process models. This will allow achievement of a high degree of availability and yield while maintaining the same level of product quality. All installed systems and components are part of the Siroll CM system developed specially for cold-rolling mills. Siemens is also responsible for monitoring the installation and startup activities of the pickling line tandem cold mill.

The tandem mill consists of four six-high rolling stands with an installed power rating of 7,000 kW per stand. The maximum roll force is 35,000 kN, making it possible to roll especially high-strength steels within narrow tolerances. SmartCrown rolls, special actuators and control systems ensure high accuracy with the specified flatness of the final product. The strip entry thickness lies between 1.8 and 6.0 mm, and the final thickness ranges between 0.5 and 2.5 mm. Strip widths range between 900 and 1,890 mm. The maximum rolling speed reaches 1,400 m/min. A wide range of steels can be processed in the line, including mild, high-strength, low-alloyed, IF, DP, TRIP and bake-hardening (BH) grades. Even high-strength steels with tensile strengths of up to 1,200 N/mm² can be processed in the line.

Valin ArcelorMittal Automotive Co, Ltd. (VAMA) was founded in September of 2010 and is a joint venture company of ArcelorMittal and the Chinese Valin Iron & Steel Group Co., Ltd. and Hunan Valin Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. The production plant in Loudi will supply high-quality sheets to the Chinese automotive industry. In its initial construction stage, the new cold-rolling mill is designed for an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tons of steel strip and can be expanded to produce an annual volume of two million tons.