The Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S) received a contract from Zaporizhstal JSC for the supply of a new continuous-pickling line at the company's steel works in Zaporozhje, Ukraine. The pickling line will have a nominal pickling capacity of 1,350,000 tonne/year.

Installation of the new pickling line is part of a major modernization program currently underway at Zaporizhstal. SMS Demag’s scope of supply includes the engineering, supply and installation of mechanical, electrical (Siemens components), chemical, process-control and automation equipment and systems. SMS Demag will also provide advisory services for erection, start-up and commissioning. The plant will be fully automated and a high degree of pickling efficiency will be assured by the application of turbulent pickling-acid injection.

Start-up of the new plant is scheduled for June 2008, after which Zaporizhstal JSC will produce high-quality pickled coils and sheets, ideal for direct sale or for subsequent cold-rolling and coating applications.

Zaporizhstal JSC, one of the largest industrial enterprises in the Ukraine, is an integrated iron and steel works with a production capacity of approximately 3.3 million tonnes/year of hot metal and 4.4 million tonnes/year of liquid steel (carbon steels and low-alloyed steels). Approximately 70% of the rolled products produced by Zaporizhstal is exported to the Middle East, Eastern Asia and CIS countries, and approximately 30% of the rolled products is consumed in the local Ukrainian market.

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, Linz, 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.