Siemens Receives Rolling Mill Order from Posco, Korea

Linz, Oct 27, 2006, The Korean steel producer Posco has signed a contract with a consortium consisting of Siemens and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for a new Roughing Mill stand for the No. 3 Hot Strip Mill at its Gwangyang Works. As consortium leader, Siemens VAI Metals Technologies Ltd., Christchurch, UK, a company of the Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S), will design and supply key equipment and automation systems for the Roughing Mill stand. HHI is responsible for mechanical equipment manufacture. The consortium’s order volume, which includes advisory services, is approximately EUR 17 million. The new roughing mill stand is scheduled to start-up in October 2007.

Posco is Korea’s largest steelmaker with a total global output in 2005 of 34 million tonnes. Posco is headquartered in Pohang and operates two integrated iron and steel works: one in Pohang and the second at Gwangyang, Korea. Posco also has overseas operations in Asia, Europe and Latin America and a worldwide distribution network.

HHI, the biggest steel plant supplier in Korea, has provided various steel mill equipment for Posco, from its huge machining shop and assembly shop located in Ulsan, Korea. HHI has a long history of cooperation with VAI for both domestic and overseas projects.

The Roughing Mill project forms part of a larger modernization plan for the No.3 Hot Strip Mill being implemented by Posco. The main aim of the modernization is to increase output and roll grades up to API X80. As part of this plan, Siemens VAI will be responsible for the total design, supply of key equipment, automation services and technical services for both the new No. 2 Roughing Mill. The new Roughing Mill will have a maximum rolling force of 6000 tonnes and will be equipped with Hydraulic Automatic Gauge Control.

This project is the latest of a series of contracts awarded by Posco to VAI which include the supply of a Finex hot-metal production plant, slab caster modernizations, plate mill cooling systems and process lines. Posco named VAI as a “Supplier of Excellence” in January 2006 in recognition of “reliable equipment and support”.

Siemens VAI Metals Technologies Ltd., Christchurch, UK (formerly VAI UK), a company of the Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S), is a leading engineering and plant-building company for the iron and steel industry as well as for the flat-product-rolling sector of the aluminum industry. Core competencies are blast furnace technology, continuous casting, hot rolling (plate and Steckel mills) and aluminum cold rolling. The company employs around 450 permanent staff in the UK.

Metals Technologies (MT), a division of the Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S), is one of the world’s leading engineering and plant-building companies for the iron and steel industry as well as for the flat-rolling sector of the aluminum industry and for open-cast mining. MT, which was created from the integration of Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau, Linz/Austria, and the electrical engineering product business and automation solutions of Siemens, provides a comprehensive range of supplies and services for all related technological processes and integrated automation solutions for the entire life-cycle of metallurgical plants.

The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) is the integrator of systems and solutions for industrial and infrastructure facilities and global service provider for the plant and projects business covering planning, installation, operation and the entire life cycle. I&S uses its own products and systems and process technologies in order to enhance productivity and improve competitiveness of companies in the sectors of metallurgy, water treatment, pulp and paper, oil and gas, marine engineering, open-cast mining, airport logistics, postal automation, intelligent traffic systems and industrial services. In fiscal 2005 (to September 30) I&S employed a total of 31,700 people worldwide and achieved total sales of EUR 5.390 billion.

Reference number: I&S 1006.5670 e

Contact Information

Dr. Rainer Schulze

Siemens AG

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