Laminoir des Landes invests in Tarnos steelworks

French plate producer Laminoirs des Landes is operating a new, hydraulic hot shear in Tarnos provided by Italian equipment maker Danieli.

After a brief and smooth commissioning, the Danieli shear performed all the cuts in time and to the necessary quality, exceeding the design capability in terms of thickness and temperature. The new hot sheer cuts hot plates between 600-900 °C to thicknesses up to 50 mm and widths up to 3,500 mm, Danieli says in a note sent to Kallanish. The new shear is powered by two in-house designed hydraulic cylinders fed individually by servo-valves and controlled for position and force. Thanks to the hydraulic knife-angle and knife-gap adjustment systems, the machine is able to perform an optimal cut with excellent edge quality for thick and thin products. This new shear design reduces requirements for maintenance time and number of spares parts.

Danieli hydraulic shears are a solution to reduce CapEx compared to common, electromechanical rocking-type shears, the note comments.

The rolling plant in Tarnos started operations in 2018 with the production of heavy plates. It has a capacity of 500,000 tonnes/year, which it had planned to achieve within 3 years. According to local press reports the company has reached a level of output of over 120,000 t/y. Spanish steel company Hierros Añón SA has a 60% stake in Laminoirs des Landes. The Swiss Sipro Stahl Holding AG holds the remaining 40%, Kallanish notes. The re-roller produces S235, S275 and S355 plate grades with thickness between 8-150mm together with unalloyed, low-alloyed and special steels for pressure vessels and boilers, normal strength and high-strength shipbuilding steels. Lamonoir des Landes also produces tempering steel, heavy plates for large-diameters pipes, plates resistant to atmospheric effects and hot-rolled slabs, or semi-finished products with higher thicknesses than those of heavy plates.