Baosteel is a state-of-the-art integrated iron and steel company and the core enterprise of China Baowu Steel Group Corporation, which ranks amongst the top steel groups in the world. The company offers an outstanding range and variety of carbon steel products. Since 2007, Baosteel is operating an 1880 mm hot strip mill at its Shanghai Baoshan site.

The upgrade of the mill followed the successful installation of a coilbox supplied by SMS group in Baosteel Zhanijang’s hot strip mill in 2021. The operational results were very convincing, and Baosteel again relied on SMS group coilbox technology for its Baoshan hot rolling mill.

In order to create space for the new coilbox in the entry section of the finishing mill, the existing bar heater first had to be dismantled and removed, while the existing edge heater remained unchanged. After a shutdown period of only forty days for revamping and the integration of the new coilbox, the successful hot commissioning took place on January 20, 2024. To Baosteel's satisfaction, the ambitious project time schedule was met, including the granting of the FAC at the beginning of December 2024.

The efforts and investments in the mill modernization paid off. A major achievement is the significant improvement of the strip’s tail-end temperature. Thereby, energy savings by reduced rolling forces in the finishing mill can be achieved. This is in particular an advantage for high-strength steel grades. Moreover, Baosteel benefits from an extended product mix by new product dimension capabilities and reduced downtimes thanks to less tail-end chewing.

Baosteel uses the new coil box also to roll a wide range of grain oriented (GO) and non-grain oriented (NGO) silicon steel grades. The ability to meet the growing demand for these steel grades for electrical applications strengthens Baosteel's future market position.