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SMS Meer to Supply PQF Tube Mill for ArcelorMittal JV in Saudi Arabia

09/05/2008 - SMS Meer will supply a PQF (premium quality finishing) seamless tube plant for ArcelorMittal’s joint venture OCTG plant with the Saudi Bin Jarallah Group.

ArcelorMittal has placed an order with SMS Meer for the supply of a PQF® (Premium Quality Finishing) seamless tube plant.
 
The new seamless tube mill will be erected in Jubail Industrial City, north of Al Jubail on the Persian Gulf. It will have an annual capacity of 600,000 tonnes, and will be used predominantly for the production of OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods) tubes in the size range from 4½ to 16 inches.
 
The heart of the plant—the PQF mill—will be equipped with individual roll drive and an all-hydraulic roll adjustment system. To ensure the constant premium quality, the entire PQF mill will be monitored and controlled by SMS Meer’s CARTA® Technology System and LASUS® wall-thickness measuring system.
 
In the future, the modern PQF plant will be operated by a joint venture between ArcelorMittal and the Saudi Bin Jarallah Group. ArcelorMittal has a 51% shareholding in the joint venture and will manage the plant. The proximity to the world’s largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, and the continuing increase in demand for OCTG tubes in the region were the crucial factors for the strategic choice of Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia as the location for the new plant.
 
The new plant is scheduled to go into production in the second half of 2010.
 
SMS group is, under the holding SMS GmbH, a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. It consists of the two Business Areas SMS Demag and SMS Meer, which jointly form SMS metallurgy. In 2007, some 8000 employees worldwide generated a turnover of about EUR 3.0 billion.