At the end of March 2010, SULB Company placed an order with SMS Meer, Germany, and SMS Concast, Switzerland, for the design and supply of a turnkey minimill plant for beams and sections in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The integrated complex in Hidd comprises a 120-t electric arc furnace, a ladle furnace, a bloom and beam-blank casting plant and a heavy section mill. The project to be carried out in conjunction with Samsung Engineering which completed by 2012.
SMS Concast supplied a state-of-the-art melt shop with an annual capacity of 850,000 t. It comprises a 120-t high-performance electric arc furnace for the charging of direct-reduced iron, a ladle furnace and a four-strand caster for various near-net-size bloom and beam blanks. The scope of supply also includes the material transport system and a high-performance dedusting system.
SMS Concast is the pioneer in continuous casting and has introduced the beam-blank casting technology to the market that will also be applied in this project.
The civil works and erection as well as integration facilities have been provided with coordination by Samsung Engineering.
SMS Meer supplied the most up-to-date heavy section mill including mill stands with hydraulic roll adjustment and a roller straightener with double-supported rollers with hydraulic adjustment. The mill has an initial capacity of 600,000t per year and is designed for high flexibility in terms of product mix and sizes. The whole line is suited for quick program changing within 20 minutes.
SMS Meer is the world market leader in the construction and development of industrial plants for the processing of steel and NF metals. It holds a 40 percent share of the world market.
Together with Foulath’s existing pelletizing plant in Hidd, which will be further extended, and the DRI plant ordered from Kobe/Midrex, SULB is operating a fully integrated steel complex from pelletizing through to the finished rolled products. This configuration will permit highly efficient production.
To quote Dr. Joachim Schönbeck, President & CEO of SMS Meer: “We feel honored to have been selected by SULB and its shareholders, Foulath and Yamato Kogyo, for this important project. Together with our sister company, SMS Concast, we shall be delivering a genuine benchmark project for our customer. Together with the existing pelletizing plants, this will be one of the most efficient production sites in the whole Gulf States region.”
Jacques F. Zuber, President & CEO of SMS Concast, added: “As the pioneer and leading supplier of continuous casting technology, SMS Concast is pleased to have the opportunity to provide its latest melting and casting technology for this outstanding project. We regard the award of the contract as a significant recognition of our competence in one of the key markets in our sector”.