On October 5, UK-based plantmaker Primetals Technologies announced that in July this year Chinese steelmaker Rizhao Steel Holding Group Co. (Rizhao) for the first time produced ultra-thin hot strip with thickness of 0.8 millimeters at the Arvedi ESP (endless strip production) plant No. 1 supplied by Primetals Technologies.
The plant at Rizhao is designed for annual production of 2.55 million mt of high quality, ultra-thin hot strip, in widths up to 1,600 millimeters and thicknesses as low as 0.8 millimeters. Energy consumption is up to 45 percent lower than in a conventional casting and rolling process. The Arvedi ESP plants have put Rizhao in a position to open up the attractive domestic and foreign markets for high quality, thin-gauge products.
The plant is one of five casting-rolling plants, which Rizhao ordered from Primetals Technologies in 2013 and 2014. While plants Nos. 1 and 2 are in full operation, plant No. 3 will be commissioned in the autumn this year, while plants Nos. 4 and 5 will be commissioned in 2016.