South Steel Factory orders minimill with Concast & SMS Meer for Jizan Economic City

South Steel-Pan Kingdom Invest. Co. has placed an order with Concast and SMS Meer, both companies belonging to the German SMS group, for the planning, engineering and supply of plant and equipment for a minimill.
The South Steel Factory is considered the Phase 1 of the strategic plan for a “Steel Cluster” to be built by Pan Kingdom Invest Co. in Jizan Economic City, the investment volume of which reaches One Billion Saudi Riyals.
As part of the economic and social development program for the country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has founded so-called “Economic Cities” which shall assist the further regional and industrial diversification of the Kingdom. Jizan Economic City (JEC) will offer much greater employment opportunities for the southwest region of Saudi Arabia through the establishment of a petrochemical and metallurgical complex.
For this complex, Concast and SMS Meer are supplying a complete minimill comprising a steel plant with an annual production of 1,000,000 t and a connected rolling mill for the production of 500,000 tpy of rebars.

On the melting side, plant productivity will be guaranteed by a new 140-t AC electric arc furnace, melting 24 heats /day with a charge of 80 % HBI + 20 % scrap. The EAF features a full-platform and EBT design, and retains the possibility of running with a 100 % scrap charge. Power input is ensured by a 120-MVA transformer used in conjunction with the Consotech equipment for the chemical power input. The melting unit is also equipped with the latest- generation electrode control system and process automation, allowing the best possible operational flexibility to cope with different charge compositions, as well as a constant and reproducible operation of the melting process.
Secondary metallurgy will be managed by a 140-t ladle furnace. LF operation and metallurgical process control will be guaranteed by the Concast process control system. On the continuous caster to be supplied by Concast, with a radius of 9 m and five casting strands, 1 million t of billets will be produced each year in the dimensions 130 mm and 150 mm. Half of the production will then be transferred still hot to the rolling mill for further processing while the remaining amount shall be for sale on the local and regional markets.

The rebar rolling mill will be supplied by SMS Meer, including the walking-hearth furnace with several control zones. In each zone it is possible to monitor the fuel/air ratio in order to minimize fuel consumption while achieving high furnace flexibility for all production quantities.
The fully automated rolling mill comprises 16 housingless stands in horizontal and vertical arrangement, followed by a six- stand Monoblock finishing stand for high-speed rolling of bars, a bar quenching system, a cooling bed and all necessary finishing and SMS group is, under the roof of the holding SMS GmbH, a group of companies internationally active in plant construction and mechanical engineering for the steel and nonferrous metals industry. It consists of the two Business Areas SMS Demag and SMS Meer, which jointly form SMS metallurgy. In 2006, some 9,000 employees worldwide generated a turnover of about EUR 2.8 bn.

Consultancy Companies of the Project:

  1. Financial and economic studies (KPMG Co.) International

  2. Technical designs: (CORUS CONSULTING COMPANY) a subsidiary of the CORUS GROUP, Britain.

  3. Geological studies: (Arab Company for Arab laboratories and Soil)

  4. Environmental studies: (Al Raei Center for Training and Environmental Consultancy).

  5. Legal Consultancy: DR Hassan Al Molla Office lawyers and Legal Advisors.

  6. Executing Company:
    An agreement has been reached with an international European company to supply the main machineries and equipment after preparation of the special documents of the project by CORUS ENGINEERING CO.
    The King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz, inaugurated the South Steel project “SOLB” of Pan Kingdom Investment Co. on November 4, 2006.
    The projected plan product will be marketed mainly in the Southern region of Saudi Arabia as well as in Yemen, Djibouti, Sudan and Ethiopia.
     

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