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Aug. 2006 — The Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S) received contracts from the Chinese steel producers Wuhan Iron and Steel Co. (Wisco) and Handan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. (Handan ISCO) for the separate supply of two 300-tonne twin-ladle furnaces. The combined value of these two projects is approximately six million euros.

These large-size ladle furnaces will be integrated into each converter steelmaking plant to increase steel productivity as well as to assure a uniform steel quality for the subsequent continuous-casting step.

The first of the two 300-ton ladle furnaces will be installed in Wisco’s Basic Oxygen Furnace Steel Shop No. 3, Hubei Province. Wisco, one of the world's largest steel producers, has an annual production capacity of approximately nine million tonnes which is cast and rolled into over 200 steel products. The second ladle furnace will be installed in Handan Isco’s new 5.4 million tonne/year converter steelmaking mill in the Hebei Province.

Both ladles will be delivered by the German I&S Group Company VAI Fuchs, which is also responsible for the engineering and supply of the core components as well as for their commissioning. The ladles will be equipped with current-conducting electrode arms and all necessary facilities to assure exact temperature and chemical composition adjustments of the steel for the subsequent continuous casting process.

Start-up of the ladle furnace at Wisco is scheduled for May 2007 and at Handan Isco for September 2007.

The VAI group, a division of the Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S), is one of the world's leading engineering and plant-building companies for the iron and steel industry as well as for the flat-product-rolling sector of the aluminum industry. VAI, derived from the company Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau, Austria, provides a comprehensive range of supplies and services for all related technological processes and integrated automation solutions for the entire life-cycle of metallurgical plants.

The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) is the integrator of systems and solutions for industrial and infrastructure facilities and global service provider for the plant and projects business covering planning, installation, operation and the entire life cycle. I&S uses its own products and systems and process technologies in order to enhance productivity and improve competitiveness of companies in the sectors of metallurgy, water treatment, pulp and paper, oil and gas, marine engineering, open-cast mining, airport logistics, postal automation, intelligent traffic systems and industrial services. In fiscal 2005 (to September 30) I&S employed a total of 31,700 people worldwide and achieved total sales of EUR 5.390 billion.

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