In early 2026, Roofings Rolling Mills (RRM) successfully started up its new cold-mill complex in Uganda, marking a significant milestone for East and Central Africa’s steel industry. This integrated facility—equipped with Danieli technology—also offers a valuable reference for metallurgical spare parts supply chains, as the reliability of spare parts becomes increasingly critical for high-end production lines.
- Roofings Cold Mill Complex: A Key Step in East Africa’s Steel Value Chain
In 2022, Roofings selected Danieli as its single-source technology partner to design and supply an advanced cold-mill complex, supporting its expansion into the flat products market. The project included a Cold Reversing Mill (CRM), a Hot-Dip Galvanizing Line (HDGL), a Color Coating Line (CCL), and a Coil-to-Coil Trimming Line (CTC).
At the heart of the complex is a single-stand, four-high Cold Reversing Mill with a nominal capacity of approximately 150,000 tons per year, featuring high-response Hydraulic Automatic Gauge Control (HAGC) and a closed-loop roll-coolant system that enables stable rolling of ultra-thin strip down to 0.15 mm. During the first three weeks of commissioning, the mill reached its contractual rolling speed of 1,100 m/min. The galvanizing line produces commercial quality and full-hard grades at speeds up to 160 m/min, processing strip thicknesses from 0.15 to 0.8 mm and widths from 600 to 1,250 mm.
The first galvanized coil was produced in October 2025, followed by the first color-coated coil on 28 November 2025.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni commissioned the Shs 466 billion facility, which doubles Roofings’ cold-rolled steel capacity to 300,000 tonnes.
- Spare parts Challenges After Cold Mill Start-Up
Once the cold mill enters continuous production, the wear rate of roll systems and bearings directly determines line stability and product quality. With a rolling speed of 1,100 m/min and strip thickness down to 0.15 mm, the work rolls must meet extremely high standards for surface hardness, core toughness, and dimensional accuracy. As production ramps up, roll replacement frequency increases, and the timely supply of spare parts becomes a critical bottleneck—any prolonged waiting period translates directly into unplanned downtime losses.
- ASCON Roll Systems and Bearings: Full Coverage for Cold Rolling, Galvanizing, and Leveling
To meet the spare parts demands of cold mill complexes and tension leveling lines, ASCON provides a comprehensive range of roll systems and bearing products:
Work Rolls: Chrome-plated work rolls with diameters from 16 to 68 mm, surface quenching hardness of HRC 63–65, quenched hardening layer depth of 3–5 mm, and chrome plating thickness of 0.03–0.05 mm, suitable for 1450 mm tension levelers in galvanizing lines.
Back-Up Rolls: High-precision back-up rolls for tension levelers and straightening machines, supporting intermediate or work rolls to effectively restrain roll deflection and bending deformation.
Roll Cassettes: 15-roll heavy-plate multi-roll leveler roll cassettes and 1660 mm precision roll units, supporting off-line pre-assembly and rapid on-line exchange to significantly reduce roll-change downtime.
Bearings and Couplings: Cylindrical roller bearings covering diameters from 20 mm to 1,200 mm, and ball-cage constant-velocity universal couplings for metallurgical drive applications.
Additionally, ASCON provides precision roll systems for scale-breaking machines, CV joints, and fly shears, forming a spare parts product matrix that covers the full process flow of pickling, cold rolling, galvanizing, leveling, and shearing.
- From Uganda to Broader Steel Markets
The start-up of Roofings’ cold mill complex marks a substantive leap for East Africa’s steel industry from basic smelting to high-value-added flat product processing. The Ugandan government has expressed support for Roofings to advance integrated steel projects and iron ore processing, noting that Uganda’s emerging automotive manufacturing sector will become an important consumer of local steel.
Against this backdrop, steel mills in emerging markets are shifting their spare parts procurement strategies from “price-driven” to “total cost of ownership-driven.” Lever aging many years of experience in tension leveler roll manufacturing, ASCON offers complete supply capabilities for roll cassettes, work rolls, back-up rolls, bearings, and couplings, helping mills reduce spare parts inventory pressure and downtime risks through customized design and rapid delivery response.
From Uganda’s first cold mill complex to more rolling line projects under planning in emerging markets, the reliable supply capability of rolls and bearing spare parts is becoming a core dimension in measuring the comprehensive competitiveness of metallurgical equipment suppliers. With its full-process roll product portfolio and rapid-response spare parts system, ASCON provides continuous support for more steel mills—from individual spare parts to systematic supply solutions.
Blog Reference Source:
- Topics You may Be Interested In:
- Tension Leveler
- Roll cassettes
- Bearing
- Work Roll
- Back up roll