The sections and merchant bar rolling mill idled one year ago by Swiss steelmaker Stahl Gerlafingen has been put up for sale by Hilco Industries, Kallanish notes.
Amsterdam-based Hilco Industrial is an agent for the resale of second hand production equipment. It is a subsidiary of US group Hilco Global.
The main original supplier of the equipment for rolling and automation was Daneli, with TSR Hockenheim as builder of the reheating furnace, Hilco writes in its information sheet. The mill was commissioned in 2011, including advanced rolling mill mechanical equipment, alongside electrics and automation systems utilising Siemens-brand technology, Hilco notes.
The rolling mill reutilised a minor portion of the equipment of the previous rolling mill at the site. Designed for a production capacity of 600,000 tonnes/year, the rolling mill can process either billet, bloom, or beam blanks into a wide mix of beams, sections, and flat bars. It features a 120 t/hour walking beam reheating furnace, a breakdown reversible mill (BDM), a three stands ultra-flexible reversing mill (UFR), and an eight-stand continuous finishing mill.
Stahl Gerlafingen, a subsidiary of Beltrame group, decided last year to discontinue production of sections and merchant bar. This was attributed to high costs caused by Swiss electricity prices and EU trade barriers preventing the firm from selling merchant bar to neighbouring markets.
The mill has since confined itself to making rebar (see Kalanish passim).
Christian Koehl Germany
