On March 19, 2020, SMS group successfully commissioned the new copper cold rolling mill of the Chinese copper manufacturer Jintian Ningbo Copper Co., Ltd. in the province of Jiangsu.

Against the background of the restrictions due to the current global spread of the COVID-19 virus, the commissioning was an extraordinary challenge successfully mastered in close partnership between the teams of SMS Siemag Technology Co., Ltd., China, and Jintian Ningbo Copper Co., Ltd.

The four-high reversing cold mill is used for the pre-rolling/roughing of thick strips with a maximum width of 650 millimeters and a maximum entry thickness of 18 millimeters. The copper and copper-alloy strips are transported as wound coils with variable inner diameters to the cold rolling mill and placed in the provided payoff stations.

Due to the great variability of the strip gauge, the payoff and recoiling stations consist of a combination of coiler gear and coiler drum of various reel diameters. The finished strips are wound onto the coiler drum and transferred to the downstream processing stations.

Maximum economic efficiency in processing the high-quality material is assured by the yield-maximizing SMS group design of the cold rolling mill. Proven actuators, as hydraulic roll adjustment, positive and negative work roll bending and multizone cooling, for example, assures the achievement of the required minimal strip thickness of 0.5 millimeters and the demanded high strip quality.

The complete scope of SMS group’s order from Jintian Ningbo Copper includes two further copper cold rolling mills, which will be brought on stream in the next few weeks.