| • | Siemens to expand Baotou long product rolling mill in China |
| • | Idrha+ produces rails with improved resistance to contact fatigue and wear |
Baotou Iron & Steel (Group) Co. Ltd., a Chinese steel producer, has awarded Siemens Metals Technologies an order for the supply of a new facility for the inline thermal treatment of heavy-duty rails, to be installed in one of the two company’s long product rolling mills in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. This will include the world’s first application of an advanced technology for rail hardening, which has been jointly developed by Siemens and the Italian technical center, Centro Sviluppo Materiali S.p.A. (CSM). This “Injector Dual-phase Rail Hardening” system named Idrha+ enables rails to be produced with improved resistance to contact fatigue and wear. The new inline system will also be able to optimize the rail product performances according to the different grades of steel, which may be processed reliably and flexibly. It is scheduled to be commissioned at the beginning of 2014.