SUMITOMO METALS KOKURA, Japan

SUMITOMO METALS KOKURA [SMK] is going to replace the existing 3-roll Finishing Block of their specialty bar mill in Kokura / Japan by a 3-roll Block of the latest generation of FRIEDRICH KOCKS GmbH & Co KG, Hilden / Germany. After completing modernization the mill will consist of the roughing mill, the intermediate mill and the finishing mill, all three of them in 2-high design and the 3-roll Reducing & Sizing Block in „Heavy Duty“-Design [RSB++] as 3-roll finishing mill.

More than 20 years ago, SMK - as pioneer - had implemented a combined KOCKS 3-roll Finishing Block into their existing rolling mill prior to all other specialty steel bar manufacturers worldwide. Back then and today the decision for the 3-roll technology has not been made only on the basis of the quality of the finished products regarding to roundness and tolerance but also because of the reliability and the excellent results of this technology.

The fundamental reasons for this investment are the improvement of quality as well as the production capacity for special steel bar which are both strategically very important for SMK. The monthly production of the bar mill will be increased by 10 % to 90,000 t/m.

A SMK forecast indicates that the total demand for special steel bar will increase and customer’s request for higher quality steel grades will accelerate in the long run. The heavy duty design of the new Reducing & Sizing Block allows rolling with higher rolling forces as well as – even combined with temperature controlled rolling – a better product quality. Considering the decrease of rolling efficiency for the production of high quality steel grades, the RSB will increase the efficiency of the whole rolling mill and at the same time will assure competitiveness on the market by saving energy consumption.