Method for producing a steel strip by hot rolling

In a method for producing a steel hot strip by hot rough rolling a steel slab heated to a rolling temperature to obtain a steel band and hot finishing rolling the steel band in a continuous manner, the improvements comprising overlapping a forward end portion of a steel band which is being rolled by the rough hot rolling over a finishing end portion of a similarly rolled preceding steel band before or during the hot finishing rolling step, with insertion between the overlapped portions of the both hot bands of an oxide scale-fusing agent which reacts with the oxide scale present on the opposing surfaces of the overlapped portions by the heat of the overlapped portions and forms a low-melting point substance, fixing temporarily the overlapped portions by means of metallic nail-like member driven into the overlapped portions, reducing the thickness of the overlapped portions to squeeze the low melting substance out of the overlapped portions thereby removing the oxide scale from the opposing surfaces of the overlapped portions to expose substantially the base metal and causing bondage therebetween by metal-to-metal contact, and subjecting the steel bands thus bonded to the hot finishing rolling continuously.