UK-based plantmaker Primetals Technologies has announced that it has modernized the annealing and pickling line of Luxembourg-headquartered global stainless steel producer Aperam SA’s plant in Genk, Belgium, which produces hot and cold rolled AISI grades 300 and 400 in coils weighing up to 45 metric tons. The objectives of the project were to upgrade the drive technology and optimize the strip tension control. With the upgrade, the processing speed of the line has increased from 100 meters to 120 meters per minute.
Aperam operates six production locations in Europe and Brazil, with an annual capacity of 2.5 million metric tons of stainless flat products for a wide range of applications. The most important European production sites for stainless steels are Châtelet and Genk in Belgium, and Gueugnon and Isbergues in France.