SMS group to supply sustainable aluminum cold rolling mill

SMS group and Spanish aluminum manufacturer LatemAluminium have announced a partnership to bring about sustainable aluminum production in the province of Castilla y León in northern Spain. During the Aluminium trade fair in Düsseldorf, Macario Fernández, CEO of LatemAluminium, and Michael Schäfer, SMS group executive vice president of flat products, jointly presented a groundbreaking circular economy project for aluminum.

SMS will supply a ‘state of the art’ aluminum cold rolling mill including ancillary facilities for the environmentally-friendly and sustainable plant operation. The cold rolling mill is part of a major investment project that LatemAluminium is undertaking to install plants for recycling aluminum and aluminum alloys, as well as production facilities for aluminum products in northern Spain. A melting plant for aluminum scrap that the manufacturer recently acquired has already started operation. A total of around 2,000 new jobs will be created.

Tailor-made aluminum products
The new cold rolling mill, coupled with expertise from SMS, will support LatemAluminium in bringing tailor-made aluminum products to market. The six-high mill, equipped with SMS group’s developed CVC plus technology (Continuous Variable Crown) for work roll and intermediate roll shifting, combined with further actuators for flexible and precise roll gap setting, will be fully capable of producing cold strip in widths of up to 2,200mm.

The mill comes with fully automatic coil and spool handling for efficient operation. SMS group will also supply a fully harmonised mechatronic plant solution, incorporating the mechanical equipment and the proven modules of the X-Pact electrical and automation systems that are specifically dedicated to the process of aluminum rolling. The scope of supply includes the rolling oil recovery system and the CO₂ fire extinguishing system.

The advanced rolling technology is in line with LatemAluminium’s commitment to the environment. SMS group will supply a Multiplate filter to clean the used rolling oil. An Airwash system that recovers rolling oil for economic and ecological re-use cleans the exhaust air. The first coil is scheduled to be produced on the new aluminum cold-rolling mill in April 2024.

Michael Schäfer, executive vice-president flat products at SMS group, concluded: “Europe is a key market for SMS group. Besides our long-term customers, we support newcomers like LatemAluminium with our expertise and economical and sustainable solutions.”