Back at the old Gustave Boël site in La Louviere, Belgium after 13 years.
A lot has changed, no more steel making, no more continuous casting, no more wire rolling.
NLMK from Russia took over in 2011 and still operates the 72″ hot strip mill which was put into operation in November 1965.
Together with the LD steelworks, it was part of a major investment in anticipation of the extension of the Brüssel-Charleroi Canal for 1350 t vessels.
The roughing stand was supplied by Maschinenfabrik Sack in Düsseldorf – the finishing line was a cooperation between Siemag from Hilchenbach and the United Engineering and Foundry Company from Pittsburgh.
The roughing stand was equipped with two 5000 kW DC engines and each finishing stand was driven by a 4500 kW DC motor.
Further images on my website.