Altos Hornos de Mexico, SA de CV (Ahmsa) recently awarded the VAI Division of Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S) a contract to engineer and supply a new 60-ton replacement converter. The contract value is EUR 1.67 million.

Siemens’ scope of supply includes the converter, trunnion ring, and the statically determined VAI-CON Link suspension system. The converter will feature an improved design and increased specific volume compared with the existing converter. The VAI-CON Link suspension system replaces the previous lamella-suspension system.

This is the 2nd such project where a lamella-suspension system has been replaced with the VAI-CON Link suspension system. The VAI-CON Link suspension system facilitates unimpeded expansion and distortion of the converter vessel during operation.

Start-up is scheduled for August 2006.

With an annual steel production of 3 million tonnes of liquid steel, Ahmsa is the largest integrated steel producer in Mexico. The company operates two steelworks that produce a wide range of flat-steel products, including hot-rolled coils, wide plates, cold-rolled coils, tinplate and tin-free steel. Ahmsa is also the country's largest manufacturer of structural shapes, offering a wide range of products used primarily in the construction industry.

VAI, a division of the Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S), is one of the world's leading engineering and plant-building companies for the iron and steel industry as well as for the flat-product-rolling sector of the aluminum industry. VAI, derived from the company Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau, Austria, provides a comprehensive range of supplies and services for all related technological processes and integrated automation solutions for the entire life-cycle of metallurgical plants.

The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) is the integrator of systems and solutions for industrial and infrastructure facilities and global service provider for the plant and projects business covering planning, installation, operation and the entire life cycle. I&S uses the electrical and technical products of other Siemens Groups in order to enhance productivity and improve competitiveness of companies in the sectors of metallurgy, water treatment, pulp and paper, oil and gas, marine engineering, open-cast mining, intelligent traffic systems and industrial services. In fiscal 2004 (to September 30) I&S employed a total of 30,000 people worldwide and achieved total sales of EUR 4.290 billion.