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ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe to Invest in Bochum, Duisburg Hot Strip Mills

05/24/2011 - ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG announced plans to invest around 300 million euros in its hot strip mills in Bochum and Duisburg.

ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG announced plans to invest around 300 million euros in its hot strip mills in Bochum and Duisburg. The investments will help the company strengthen its position for premium flat-rolled carbon steel products, while also helping to secure sites and jobs in the Rhine-Ruhr area.
 
ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe operates four hot strip mills with a total annual capacity of around 15 million tonnes. Hot Strip Mills 1 and 2 are located at the Duisburg site, along with a casting-rolling line that also produces hot-rolled, while Hot Strip Mill 3 is in Bochum. Some of the hot strip from these mills is sold directly to customers, and the balance is further processed at ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe.
 
The hot strip mills that are to be modernized produce lightweight steels for the automotive industry, starting material for tinplate, steels for oil and gas pipelines, and starting material for electrical steel. For these steel grades, precision dimensions and consistent, carefully controlled properties along the entire length of the strip are of key importance.
 
Part of the investment program will focus on upgrading Hot Strip Mill 1, which has an annual capacity of around three million tonnes. The mill will be equipped with profile, contour and flatness control systems to ensure highly consistent and precise dimensions over the full length and width of the strip. The strip cooling system will also be replaced, which will help to ensure improved control of steel properties such as strength and formability. The furnaces that heat the steel slabs to rolling temperature will be fitted in part with new burners, which will help to reduce heating times and energy usage. The upgrade program also includes new roll drives and a new computer control system for the entire mill train.
 
The investment program also includes the installation of a new accelerated cooling system on Hot Strip Mill 2 at the Duisburg-Beeckerwerth plant. Among other things, this will permit ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe to expand its range of high-strength steels for oil and gas pipelines. Additional investments will include a new computer control system for the roughing and finishing mills as well as new, large motors for additional roll drives. The transportation and storage facilities for finished hot-rolled coils will also be replaced.
 
At Hot Strip Mill 3 in Bochum, a new cooling line is to be installed for more exact temperature control as well as new rolling equipment for enhanced dimensional accuracy.
 
ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe has already invested 180 million euros in expanding Hot Strip Mills 2 and 3 since 2006, creating additional capacities to handle two million tonnes of slabs per year from ThyssenKrupp’s new steel mill in Brazil.
 
“Our current hot strip program will enable us to improve our performance further still, also in terms of quality,” said Dr. Ulrich Jaroni, the Executive Board member of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG responsible for production operations. “We are also expanding our range of high-end products, which help protect the environment and conserve resources. This is a further clear commitment to Germany as a production location, where we will only be successful if we provide first-class quality.”