Xinyu Iron & Steel Co. placed an order with Siemens VAI Metals Technologies to provide the engineering, equipment and services for a new continuous annealing line. The new annealing line will form part of a cold-rolling mill in the Jiangxi province on which Xinyu will produce high-grade strip for the automotive industry. It will be capable of processing 700,000 metric tons of steel strip annually at widths ranging from 700-1,500 mm and thicknesses from 0.2-2.0 mm. Siemens VAI will be responsible for the complete engineering and design of the mechanical and electrical equipment and will also supply special machinery for product quality.

Siemens VAI will also supply the automation equipment for the entire line, including the furnace, which will be supplied by another vendor. Siemens will supervise the installation work for the new annealing line, which is scheduled to commence operation in April 2011.