Zhongyou BSS Petropipe Co Limited a subsidiary of the Baoji Petroleum Steel Pipe Co Ltd of China has placed an order with SMS Meer a company of the SMS group for the supply of a large diameter pipe mill. The new mill employing the JCOE® process developed by SMS Meer will have an annual capacity of up to 150,000 tonnes and be the most modern of its kind in China. It will be used to produce longitudinal SAW steel pipes with diameters from 508 mm to 1,422 mm and wall thicknesses up to 40 mm in lengths of maximal 12.2 m and material grades up to X100. The plant is to be built in the Qinhuangdao special economic zone near Beijing and is scheduled to go into production in summer 2008.
Crucial aspects for the placement of the order were the advantages offered by the JCOE® process with the JCO® pipe forming press as main forming aggregate. The JCOE® process has established itself on the market worldwide in competition with the UOE process and three roll bending process due to its higher flexibility with high product quality and lower investment costs. It has been employed in ten pipe mills to date in recent years.
SMS Meer is to supply the key machines for the plant, such as the plate edge miller, the technological components of the crimping press, the JCO® pipe forming press, a hydraulically adjustable tack welding machine and a mechanical expander. The pipes produced are to be employed in pipeline construction and meet all the relevant API standards. They are intended for use in pipelines transporting oil and gas from Chinese rigs in the northeast of the country to the major cities in the east and southeast.
