China-based Wuhan Iron and Steel Co. (WISCO), a subsidiary of steelmaking giant Baowu Group, has awarded UK-based plantmaker Primetals Technologies an order to convert its CSP casting and rolling line into a conventional hot strip mill with an annual production capacity of 4.2 million mt.
Under the 21-month project, the existing thin slab line, commissioned in 2008, will be equipped with two walking beam furnaces, a high-capacity reversing roughing mill, heavy edgers, a crop shear and descaling units, while its finishing mill, laminar cooling system and downcoiler will be upgraded.
The revamped mill will process 230 mm slabs and produce high-value products including advanced high-strength, high-carbon, microalloyed pipe-grade and electrical steels, almost doubling the existing facility’s capacity.
Primetals will provide engineering services, key technological equipment and complete Level 1 and Level 2 automation systems, including solutions for strip geometry control, ski detection and condition monitoring.
The project marks Primetals’ second conversion of a CSP facility into a conventional hot strip mill, following the completion of a similar modernization project at thyssenkrupp Steel’s Bruckhausen plant in Germany in 2025.
