Otelinox, which is owned by Samsung Deutschland, a subsidiary of South Korea’s Samsung C&T Corp, held a ground breaking ceremony for the new plant last week.
The new mill will take the company’s total capacity for cold rolled stainless sheet and coil production to 90,000t/y. Otelinox currently produces 15,000mt/y of stainless CR precision strip, in thicknesses from 0.05mm to 0.8mm and widths from 5mm to 625mm. “The new standard width rolling mill will have an increased product range of 0.1mm to 1.5mm thick with width up to a maximum of 1250mm. The main product will be wide width precision strip, but the line will also have capacity for 2B/BA surface finish product. “All this will enable Otelinox to continue to become a more diverse and flexible producer, better able to match the individual requirements of its customers,” a source at Samsung said. The new line is due to be commissioned in December 2009, with commercial production beginning in 2010. Samsung says it has modernised and optimised Otelinox since acquiring the former state-owned company in 1997, turning it into one of the major players in the European stainless steel wide and precision strip market. Otelinox’s precision strip is used in the automotive, aerospace and electronic industries, mainly in Europe. In addition it sells stainless steel into North America and Asia.