The Siemens Group Industrial Solutions and Services (I&S) received orders from the Korean steel producer Posco for the upgrading and supply of equipment for three of the company's pickling lines located in Pohang and Gwangyang, Korea.

At the Pohang steel works of Posco the pickling section of the No. 2 Coupled Pickling/Cold-Rolling Line (P2 C) will be upgraded with a double-entry section, a new entry-strip accumulator, a new process section with four pickling tanks, an intermediate strip accumulator and an exit-strip accumulator. At the Gwangyang steel works the original preparation station of the No. 3 Pickling Line (POL 3) will be equipped with a new coil-supporting solution which reduces the risk of coil damage during uncoiling. For the same facility a 60-t scale breaker for the descaling of high-strength steels, a preparation station and two online shears will be installed at the No. 4 Coupled Pickling/Cold-Rolling Line (K4 C). The objective of these projects is to increase the productivity of Posco's pickling lines and to improve the quality of the pickling operations.

Upon completion of these projects Posco will be able to pickle 6.5 million tons of steel in these lines. All three orders will be implemented by VAI Clecim, Saint-Chamond, France-a company of the I&S division VAI.