Shougang Iron and Steel Company Ltd recently awarded VAI Pomini Srl an order for a new 20-stand bar and bar in coil mill in Beijing, P.R. China.

The scope of the project include 20 Red-Ring mill stands, fifth generation, stand sizes RR 576, RR 558 and RR 548, shears, Orbis product measuring gauge, cooling bed, newly designed start-stop static 1,000-tonne cold shear, bundling and product dispatch, as well as a complete bar-in-coil line, consisting of Garrett coilers, cooling conveyor and compactors. The process automation system is also part of the project.

The new plant will produce 500,000 tonnes per year of high-quality products, including spring steel and bearing steels, 14- to 80-mm diameter straight bars, and 14- to 50-mm coiled bars at a coil weight of three tonnes. Feedstock for the mill will include 160- and 200-mm square billets.

VAI Pomini is one of the leading long-product technology providers worldwide, combining the know-how of VAI, Pomini, ASHLOW and GFM on the Rolling Mill technology field, as well as the strength of Rokop and VAI in the Continuous Billet Caster area. VAI Pomini is jointly owned by Techint, Italy, and VAI, Austria, and has offices in Castellanza, Italy; Linz, Austria; Sheffield, UK; Pittsburgh, USA; and Taicang, P.R. China.

Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau (VAI), a company of the listed VA Technologie AG, is one of the world’s leading engineering and plant-building companies for the iron, steel and aluminum industries with a multinational company structure and special focus on technology, automation and services. VAI achieved total sales of 976 million EUR in 2003 and employs approximately 3,400 people worldwide.