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Saarstahl Plans Further Investment in Völklingen Rolling Mill
Oct. 10, 2008 Saarstahl AG’s Supervisory Board recently decided on a 55-million-euro investment to develop the Nauweiler Bar Steel Centre. The investment will feature the installation of a new cooling bed with a directly adjoining finishing line at the company’s Völklingen rolling mill.
The cooling bed will have a rake-type, 2,500-m² cooling bed that will form a central element in the sequence of the hot rolling line and feed for the finishing line. The roll strands run onto the cooling bed with a cycle time of up to 50 seconds at temperatures of approximately 800° to 900° C, later cooling down to about 100° to 200°C on the way to the finishing line. Rolled strands, individually guided at a defined distance from each other using a so-called rake, will be turned at regular cycle times. The technical package facilitates controlled cooling of the up to 80-meter-long roll strands, thus allowing specific control of material properties.
After successful completion of previous investments at the Völklingen rolling mill over the last four years, this new project represents a further step for Saarstahl AG’s continuous modernization of production facilities in order to secure their competitive edge. The company said it also is making the investment to help meet increased customer demands with regard to quality and quantity, especially from the automotive industry.
“With the investments realized so far and those now newly planned, Saarstahl not only wants to maintain its current position on the market but to further extend it,” emphasized Claude Kintz, Chairman of the Management Board. “The company’s professed aim is to create the future with steel,” he added.
Dr. Klaus Harste, the Member of the Management Board responsible for Engineering and Technology, added that this measure within the concept of the “Nauweiler Bar Steel Centre” would lead, in particular to a further increase in rolling mill productivity as well as product quality.