TPT September 2013

Industry News

Fives acquires Marcegaglia Group subsidiary OTO Mills

group will find new growth opportunities through even larger synergies, while preserving its unique identity.” The acquisition is expected to close shortly, upon applicable regulatory approvals. Fives is an industrial engineering group created 200 years ago. Fives designs and manufactures process equipment, production lines and turnkey plants for the world’s largest industrial companies in the aluminium, steel, glass, automotive, logistics, cement and energy sectors, both in emerging and developed countries. In all these areas, Fives designs breakthrough innovations that anticipate and respond to the needs of its customers in terms of profitability, safety and environmental responsibility. In 2012, Fives achieved sales of €1.5bn and employed more than 6,500 people in about 30 countries.

The complements Fives’ current offer in tubes and pipes processing lines supplied by Fives Bronx under the brand names of Bronx/ Taylor-Wilson, which offers finishing solutions for a wide range of seamless and welded tube mills, and Abbey, which supplies welded tube mills with an expertise primarily directed towards large diameter mills. Fives will also benefit from OTO’s automation expertise, which will be a strong asset for Fives’ other activities in steel. Frédéric Sanchez, chairman of the executive board of Fives, said: “OTO Mills will bring a unique expertise as well as best-in-class technologies that will significantly enhance our current activity in the supply of pipe and tube mills. Its superior geographical outreach will also open new commercial horizons to our business.” Antonio Marcegaglia, CEO of the Marcegaglia Group, added: “I am sure that OTO Mills, after so many years of success and achievements, from scratch to worldwide leadership, as part of a large industrial engineering acquisition

FIVES has signed an agreement to acquire OTO Mills, an Italy-based supplier of high performance mills for the production of welded tubes and automation systems for the steel industry. Founded in 1980, OTO’s main activity is to design, manufacture and install complete systems for the production of welded tubes and profiles. Its focus on key technological innovations makes it a leader for ERW mills and allows OTO to supply a wide range for the production of tubes with a diameter up to 24" that are used for a large variety of industrial applications, including oil and gas. OTO also brings along a significant automation expertise offering superior reliability and productivity. Its industrial expertise has enabled OTO to develop a large and loyal customer base all over the world: today, about 700 plants in 70 countries are equipped with OTO solutions. In 2013, OTO will generate a turnover of €90m, half of which is in North and South America. In its three modern facilities in Northern Italy, OTO employs a workforce of around 250 people with outstanding engineering and design skills. THE Chinese company FuJian WuHang Stainless Steel from FuJian Province, has placed an order with SMS Meer, Germany, for the supply of the core technologies for construction of a new stainless steel rolling mill. The mill produces wire rod and bar in coils. The core facilities include a modern 3-roll PSM ® (Precision Sizing Mill) with hydraulic roll adjustment performed under load, which finish-rolls all final sizes from diameter 13 to 38mm from a single- pass family. Furthermore, the PSM ® also produces all the necessary initial cross- sections for the wire rod block. The scope of supply of the PSM ® includes the automatic stand-changing system, the workshop for preparation of the stands and guides, and also the CARTA ® system, which provides the specific setting values depending on the product and dimension. All the finished products of the 3-roll PSM ® sizing block

Fives Bronx Inc – USA Fax: +1 330 244 1961 Email: fivesbronx-sales@fivesgroup.com Website: www.fivesgroup.com Stainless steel rolling mill ordered

facility is that each stand is individually driven with a single motor. The wire rod dimensions range from 5 to 20mm diameter. SMS Meer will supply the entire package of a modern coil handling system with several coil transportation routes for superior martensitic, ferritic and austenitic grades. “With these modern core facilities FuJian WuHang will be able to manufacture high-quality products very cost-effectively and with maximum flexibility,” says Liu WeiGuo, plant director, FuJian WuHang. The mill has an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons and rolls high quality special steels. Commissioning was scheduled for the 2 nd quarter of 2013.

Stainless steel rolling mill from SMS Meer

The Tube show in 2012 Another core component is the wire rod finishing block with MEERdrive ® technology. The special feature of this are coiled on a newly designed coiler which ensures top quality by producing scratch-free finished products, and optimum shaping, height and coiling densities of the coils.

SMS Meer GmbH – Germany Email: info@sms-meer.com Website: www.sms-meer.com

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S eptember 2013