Bangladesh’s largest steelmaker, Abul Khair Steel Limited, has officially commenced operations at the rebar rolling mill located in Sitakunda, Chattogram, supplied by German-based SMS Group. The new mill represents a major leap in the country’s steelmaking capacity, designed to meet surging demand from the domestic construction and infrastructure sectors, as reported by SMS Group.
The facility, with a design capacity of 1.6 million metric tons per year of deformed bars, reinforces Bangladesh’s industrial base amid an infrastructure boom and it sets a global benchmark for speed, initially reaching 52.5 meters per second and later achieving 55.04 meters per second when producing 2-10 mm deformed bars.
The mill incorporates SMS group’s MEERdrive blocks, providing independent drives for each pass. This design enhances flexibility, ensures uniform product quality across all rebar diameters (8-40 mm), and significantly lowers maintenance needs. The individual motor configuration also reduces roll ring consumption by around 60 percent compared to conventional systems, a key factor in operational cost reduction.