On 26 September, thyssenkrupp Steel produced the first coil on the new 2-stand reversing cold mill at its plant in Bochum, Germany, supplied by Primetals Technologies.
The mill was inaugurated on October 30 during a festive event and is considered a centre piece in the steelmaker’s future plans, Kallanish understands.
The double reversing stand can be used to produce higher-performance steels for electric mobility, as well as other high-strength grades. The location in Bochum will be expanded into a centre of excellence for electric mobility by 2025. In addition to the now completed unit, an annealing and isolating line and an electrical steel inspection line are being built there. The total investment at the site amounts to about €300 million ($319m).
The mill will help to “satisfy the ever-increasing and demanding requirements for premium electrical steel,” says Heike Denecke-Arnold, chief operations officer of tk Steel. “With even thinner highly silicised sheets, for example, we can help to further increase the energy efficiency and thus the performance of electric motors.”
Electrical steel strips with a thickness of less than 0.35 millimetres can only be rolled efficiently and in high quality on reversing stands such as the newly installed stand, due to high material requirements. The technology used ensures a stable rolling operation with very thin and hard strips, tk Steel says.
Christian Koehl Germany
