Chinalco Southwest Aluminum (Group) Co., Ltd. signed a contract with SMS group for the supply of a two-stand tandem cold rolling mill (TCM) for its new facility near Xipeng, China. Combined with the new aluminum hot strip mill, which the company also ordered from SMS in 2025, the new cold mill will enable the company to manufacture and process sophisticated automotive grades and can sheet.
“We are convinced of the unique experience in designing multi-stand aluminum cold rolling mills and the long-lasting high quality produced in SMS group workshops,” said He Zhili, Vice President, Chinalco Southwest Aluminum. “The reliability of SMS equipment has been proven and confirmed over decades of operation at SWA. We are proud to equip our new plant with premium equipment from SMS and to expand our partnership.”
The state-of-the-art two-stand aluminum TCM’s rated annual capacity is around 460,000 tons, with a maximum strip width of 2,350 mm and a minimum final gauge is 0.1 mm.
Each of the two six-high mill stands features CVC®plus (Continuously Variable Crown) bending and shifting systems. The efficient, high-precision roll gap control package combines special contour roll shifting, work, and intermediate roll bending, and multi-zone cooling with inductive edge heating.
In addition, SMS’s highly effective strip cooling system (HEC) is located between the two mill stands. It utilizes convection to cool the heated strip before it enters the second mill stand, enabling faster rolling speeds and higher rolling mill productivity.
The new mill is designed to roll a wide product portfolio including can stock and automotive sheet and comes with a package of advanced technologies to meet the challenging requirements of SWA’s automotive customers. The mill will be capable of processing sheet for both highly formable inner car body parts, made of AA5xxx series alloys, and exposed parts made of AA6xxx series alloys.
The new tandem cold rolling mill is scheduled to go on stream in late 2027.