Fives, a global engineering group, has recently installed a new 4Hi cold rolling mill at the Compañía Valenciana de Aluminio Baux plant in Spain. The plant, which is part of the Jupiter Aluminium Group and produces aluminium coils, now benefits from an additional mill designed to expand its production capacity to 60,000 tonnes per year in response to rising industry demand.
The Compañía Valenciana de Aluminio Baux sought to expand its cold-rolled aluminium output to better supply its Bancolor facility in Elche de la Sierra, Spain. The Baux Group focuses on coated aluminium coils mainly used in the window shutter and sun protection markets. To achieve this, the company chose Fives to design, build, and commission the new 4Hi cold rolling mill at its Segorbe facility. The first aluminium coil from the new mill was delivered successfully on October 1, 2025.
According to Gerardo Caniego, Executive Vice President at Compañía Valenciana de Aluminio Baux, “We relied on Fives to provide a second cold rolling mill for our facility. Our existing equipment had reached maximum capacity and could no longer meet the growing demands. We expect the new technology to significantly enhance our performance, allowing us to exceed an annual output of 60,000 tonnes of high-quality aluminium coils.”
The mill is capable of rolling aluminium strips from 6 mm down to 0.15 mm in thickness and can operate at speeds up to 600 metres per minute. It also features automatic systems for gauge and flatness control, helping ensure high product quality. To reduce downtime during roll changes, the mill includes side-shifting cars that cut roll changeover times to under five minutes.
Project Collaboration
This project’s success was the result of close cooperation among the engineering, project management, and commissioning teams from both companies. Sergio Arevalillo, Chief Operating Officer & Project Manager at Fives Steel Spain, emphasized the challenges involved, noting that the new mill had to be installed very close to the existing equipment without interrupting production. Careful engineering, coordination, and frequent on-site communication were key to delivering the project while maintaining quality throughout installation and commissioning.
“Compañía Valenciana de Aluminio Baux needed to install the new technology extremely close to the existing cold rolling mill, in a limited space, while avoiding production downtime and maintaining quality during installation and commissioning of the new mill. Successful project delivery required precise engineering and close coordination with the customer, especially during execution, which involved frequent on-site visits and joint decision-making on technical and operational aspects,” says Sergio Arevalillo, Chief Operating Officer & Project Manager at Fives Steel Spain, a Fives’ subsidiary specialized in steel and aluminium process technology.
