Germany-based plantmaker SMS group has announced that China's Anhui Xuanli Steel has awarded it a contract to supply a five-meter plate finishing stand, trimming shear and slitting shear for its new heavy plate mill in Tongling, Anhui Province. Scheduled to start operations in 2028, the facility will have an annual capacity of 2 million mt, supporting Xuanli's product expansion and competitiveness in the heavy plate market.
The four-high finishing stand will provide the highest rolling force of any plate mill built by SMS, incorporating hydraulic gap control and CVC plus technology for plate profile and flatness control. The mill will produce plates measuring 1,300–4,900 mm wide and 5–300 mm thick, while the shears will enable double-width plates to be slit into narrower products, improving productivity.
SMS will also supply X-Pact Level 1 and Level 2 automation systems to optimize rolling schedules, plate geometry and furnace discharge timing, alongside camera-based technology enabling fully automated slab turning.
