Xilin Iron & Steel from Heilongjiang Province, China, is increasing its production capacities with a new high-speed wire rod mill from SMS Meer. The two-strand mill with ten-stand wire rod blocks achieves a rolling speed of 120 m/s. The plant can produce 1 million tonnes of wire rod per year.

"Our high quality combined with the proximity to the Chinese market convinced Xilin Iron & Steel," says Zuo-Guo Xiao, Managing Director of SMS Meer in China. The maximum rolling speed of 120 m/s – corresponding to 432 km/h – makes high demands on the equipment and the process management. "Xilin Iron & Steel can depend on all the processes running stably and reliably, allowing high availability and productivity to be achieved," adds Zuo-Guo Xiao.

Xilin Iron & Steel will produce quality products for the Chinese market on the new wire rod mill such as C-steel, cold-heading grades, welding wires and spring steels in the size range from 5.5 mm to 20 mm diameter.

Starting material are 165-mm square billets with a length of 12 m which are heated in a furnace with a capacity of 180 t/h.

Commissioning of the plant is scheduled for December 2013.