German plantmaker SMS Group has announced that it has received an order from Hyundai Steel and POSCO’s joint venture to supply all rolling mills for its new greenfield steel plant in Louisiana, US.
The order covers a hot strip mill and a pickling line tandem cold mill, including an acid regeneration plant and AMOVA logistics solutions. Equipped with state-of-the-art automation and process control systems, the rolling mills will be designed to produce premium automotive steel grades. The digital-ready automation systems will allow for the seamless integration of additional functions and easy expansion with future digital solutions.
The new steel plant is scheduled to go live in 2029 and will have a total capacity of 2.8 million mt of steel products.
According to SMS Group’s statement, the coupling of the pickling and rolling processes will enable a continuous production flow without the need for intermediate material storage. As a result, the line will be able to achieve an annual output of almost 2 million mt of high-quality cold rolled coil. In addition, the line can be operated in pickling mode alone, producing pickled and oiled hot rolled coil with an annual capacity of 112,000 mt.
The broad product portfolio, including strip widths of up to 1,850 mm and cold rolled thicknesses ranging between 0.40 mm and 3.50 mm, will be geared toward sophisticated automotive steel grades.
The cold rolling mill will consist of five mill stands and a fully continuous exit section. To produce strips within tight flatness and thickness tolerances, SMS Group will equip all six-high mill stands with its CVC® plus technology. This configuration is particularly important for the production of third-generation advanced high-strength steels, which require precise roll gap control at high rolling forces.
Integrated X-Pact® level 1 and level 2 control systems will minimize off-gauge strip lengths and thickness deviations while enhancing rolling stability. One of the technological highlights, the X-Pact® Hot Start Assistant, will ensure a fully automatic restart after a stop, with the strip remaining in the rolling mill. Optimal rolling mill settings will provide for a safe restart with good strip flatness and rapid attainment of the target strip thickness.
After cold rolling, the coils will be transported to the downstream processing area by an AMOVA high-speed car system controlled by the integrated transport management system.
