The Chinese company Qingdao Iron and Steel from Qingdao, Shandong Province, has awarded SMS Group  the FAC for the supplied SBQ (Special Bar Quality) mill.After a short ramp-up phase, the new special mill is now producing a wide range of steel grades with very good mechanical properties and optimized microstructure with tolerances of better than 1/6 DIN. The mill is designed for an annual capacity of around 700,000 tons of bar steel.

The close tolerances are achieved by the 3-roll “PSM® 380/5” (Precision Sizing Mill) sizing block in conjunction with a MEERgauge® cross-section measuring system and monitor control technology. Practically any desired finished sizes in diameters between 16 and 100 millimeters can be rolled.

A large number of different cooling strategies were considered during the design of the mill in order to achieve the very good mechanical properties and the optimized microstructure. These strategies are based on eight movable water boxes and long equalizing sections.

Together with the CCT® program (Controlled Cooling Technology), optimum temperature control in the rolling mill is ensured during production for every dimension and every steel grade.

With the installation of the SBQ mill, the Qingdao Iron and Steel Group has strengthened its position on the market and extended its product portfolio by now being able to also roll high-grade special steels.

The SMS group is a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. Its 14,000 employees generate sales of over EUR 3.3 bn.