Re Contract

ABB Ltd
13 February 2004

ABB supplies advanced drives to Chinese steel maker

US$ 20 million order supports greenfield mill project for Jiangsu Shagang Group

Zurich, Switzerland, February 13, 2004 - ABB, the leading power and automation
technology group, said today it has received a US$ 20 million contract from
China's Jiangsu Shagang Group Co., Ltd. to supply all drive systems and power
supply equipment for a 'greenfield' heavy plate rolling mill.



The new mill will be built near Shanghai in Jiangsu Province in cooperation with
the engineering firm Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau of Austria.



'This project continues a long line of achievements for ABB in China's metals
industries,' said Dinesh Paliwal, head of ABB's Automation Technologies
division. 'The combination of our core motors and drives technology and metals
processing expertise is helping customers across Asia meet their capacity and
precision goals.'



ABB's rolling mill expertise and state-of-the-art drive systems were cited as
factors deciding the key project role. Rolling mill operations are characterized
by rapidly varying loads, fast changes between driving and braking, and constant
torque over a wide speed range, so moving equipment must function with high
precision and overload capability.



ABB will supply several advanced drives solutions, including  two ABB 11.5 MW
main motors.



Jiangsu Shagang Group is one of China's leading steel producers, and aims to
increase annual production capacity for rolled steel to ten million tons by
2005. The new rolling mill is scheduled to produce its first plates in widths up
to five meters within 28 months.



ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable
utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering
environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100
countries and employs about 120,000 people.


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ABB Corporate Communications, Zurich
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Wolfram Eberhardt

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