German plantmaker SMS group has announced that it will modernize China-based Panzhihua Steel&Vanadium’s 1,450 mm hot strip mill in Panzhihua in Sichuan Province in China.
With the revamping of the mill, Panzhihua intends to significantly improve plant availability, increase production capacity, and expand the production range to include thin-gauge strip. The mill’s annual production capacity will be raised from 2.4 million mt currently to at least 3 million mt. The revamping will further enhance the flexibility of the mill with regard to the product mix, which includes carbon steels as well as silicon steels and titanium strips.
The modernization activities for the complete mill will be carried out during only two shutdowns. The first shutdown is scheduled for September 2021 and the second one for July 2022. The first hot strip is scheduled to be rolled in October 2022.