Shanghai Baosteel International (Baosteel) has placed an order with Siemens to supply new electrical equipment for the roughing mill of hot rolling mill No. 1 in Shanghai, China. The order includes automation and drive systems for a new sizing press, modernization of the roughing mill's control system and the drive train for a roughing stand. The project is scheduled for completion in December 2014.

　　Baosteel operates an integrated production complex in the Baoshan District of Shanghai with an annual capacity of 7.5 million tons of crude steel. In its hot rolling mill No. 1, over 5.5 million tons of hot strip are produced every year with widths between 600 and 1,900 millimeters and strip thicknesses of 1.2 to 25.4 millimeters.

　　At present, a new sizing press is being installed in the four-stand roughing mill of hot rolling mill No. 1. To this end, Siemens is supplying the drive system and the basic automation, and is integrating the edger in the existing automation environment. The roughing mill's existing Simatic PCS7 process control system is being upgraded. Moreover, a new Sinamics SL-150 drive system with a total power output of 9,500 kilowatts is being installed in roughing stand R2. This will boost rolling speed and thus the yield of the roughing stand. In this way, Baosteel can make better use of the continuous casting capacities expanded in the past few years.

　　With an annual production of around 40 million tons, the Baosteel Group is China's largest steel producer. In recent years, Siemens has modernized the automation and drive systems of the finishing train in hot rolling mill No. 1.