A set of cold-rolling experiments with ceramic rolls was carried out using facilities for the production of profiled steel wire. Based on the experiments, the strength of sintered silicon nitride was found sufficient for allowing cold-rolling of austenitic stainless steel wire. The wear rate of the silicon nitride rolls in the tests was low. Metal was transferred from the wire to the rolling tracks of the ceramic rolls. The surface texture of the rolls was reproduced on the rolled product. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.