The new mills will be located in a suburb of Zhongyang County, Shanxi Province, China. This will almost double the mills' production speed. Commissioning is expected in late 2012.

After the three finishing mills begin operation, the annual output of each mill will increase to 700,000 tons from 500,000 tons and thus considerably enhance ZISCO´s production capacity. Meanwhile, with the three high-speed mini finishing mills, the company will also be able to produce small sizes, with one plant producing rod from 5.5 mm to 10 mm and rebar from 8 mm to 10 mm, and in the other two mills, rod from 5.5 mm to 16 mm and rebar from 8 mm to 14 mm. Speeds are guaranteed at 105 meters per second. The scope of supply from Siemens VAI also includes guides. The electrical and automation package will be supplied by Siemens Limited China, utilizing the standard Siroll LR solution platform for long-product rolling mills and including the medium voltage drive.

A mid-size private company established in 1985, ZISCO is an integrated mining, steel making and power generation company, which produces carbon grade rod and rebar for the Chinese construction market. It produced 3.6 million tons of steel wire in 2009.

Source: Siemens VAI Metals Technologies

• www.siemens.com/metals