Essar Steel Co., India, has awarded SMS Demag Inc. a contract to modernize their 2,150-mm hot strip mill.

Upgrades to the hot strip mill, which was originally supplied by SMS Demag Inc. in 1992/93, include improving the automatic width control for the reversing roughing mill; a pinch roll leveler for the coil box; and inter-stand strip cooling sprays for the finishing mill along with anti-peeling sprays. Stands will also be revamped to include work roll bending on stands one to six and CVC roll shifting on stands two through six, and an additional cooling bank will be added to the runout cooling table line.

Further modernizations include a new coil inspection station with automatic rewind and numerous other improvements to decrease maintenance, increase productivity, enhance quality and improve mill capability.

Essar Steel’s hot strip mill, which is currently rated at 2.4 million tonnes per year, will have the capacity to process 3.5 million tons per year following the upgrade. Following modernization, the hot strip mill will be one of the most modern and diversified in Southern Asia, capable of supplying high grades including API, EDD, IF, ship-building, medium-carbon, peritectic and many others.

The upgrade is scheduled to be completed in two phases during September 2004 and April 2005.

SMS Demag Inc. forms part of the Metallurgical Plant and Rolling Mill Technology Business Area of the SMS group, which is 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 2003 around 9,500 employees worldwide generated a turnover of around EUR 2.20 billion.