Rebar minimill ordered
Highbar LLC has placed an order with SMS group for a new rebar minimill, which will be built on a site near Osceola, Arkansas.
The minimill will enable Highbar to produce rebar at a sustainable scale and with environmental sustainability results. Highbar also agreed to continue its cooperation with SMS for a further two minimills in the future.
Dave Stickler, Highbar's CEO, said, SMS group's relationship with the founders of Highbar dates back almost three decades, with a number of successful projects being completed between the two partners. The new minimill will feature SMS group's CMT® (continuous minimill technology), a low-emission and energy-efficient steelmaking system that supplies liquid steel to a high-speed caster to directly feed the rolling mill in a single, reliable process. Efficiency is increased by the SMS group's Aura DC (advanced unit rectifier assembly) powered electric-arc furnace with all-charge continuous feeding system, and robotic solutions that improve labor efficiency. SMS Concast will supply a high-speed single-strand caster, and the link to the rolling mill will be through an induction equalization furnace provided by SMS Elotherm. The rebar mill will be equipped with fourteen housing-less stands and an eight-pass MEERdrive®high-speed finishing block. SMS group's quenching and soft cooling TMbaR® thermo-processing systems will be incorporated into the rebar mill. The minimill will have industry 4.0 digital solutions and AI-controlled processes to be future-ready to take advantage of digitalization from start-up. It is designed so that natural gas is not required during the production process, achieving a low carbon footprint and up to 50 percent reduction in emissions. Groundbreaking for the project is expected to take place in Q2 2023, with start-up planned for 22 months later.SMS has been and continues to be at the forefront of advancing the world's steel industry in terms of operating efficiency, ever-increasing quality capabilities and environmental sustainability. I fully expect the SMS-supplied rebar minimill to build on the tremendous success my partners and I have had developing many of the finest scrap metal recycling and steel production facilities in the world while using SMS technology.