Cockerill Sambre (Arcelor Group), Belgium, has purchased a modern flying crank shear and a scrap sorting facility from SMS Demag, Germany. The equipment will be installed at the company’s Kessales site in Liège, Belgium.

SMS Demag’s scope of supply for the shear, at the exit side of the existing continuous
annealing line, comprises the entire electrical system, erection and installation, automation and commissioning.

The new flying crank shear will cut strip widths from 600 to 1670 mm and strip thicknesses of 0.32 to 2.3 mm. The shear will help Cockerill Sambre achieve increased cutting speeds, greater reliability, improved plant availability, and lower operating and maintenance costs. For the production of a great variety of carbon steel grades, including high-strength steel, the new shear will be utilized for sample cuts and scrap cuts and for cutting out weld seams.

The sample and scrap sorting facility will operate at a maximum sorting speed of 75 meters per minute.

The revamp is scheduled for summer 2005.

SMS Demag AG forms part of the Metallurgical Plant and Rolling Mill Technology Business Area of the SMS group. The SMS group 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 9500 employees worldwide generated a turnover of around EUR 2.20 billion.