In a rolling train, prior to being rolled, the rolled stock, or slab, produced in an ingot casting process, has the shape of a truncated pyramid with a base area, a top area and four side areas. During a first rolling pass sequence, two opposite side areas of the rolled stock are rolled in a first direction so that all of the cross-sectional areas of the rolled stock oriented transversely with respect to the rolling direction have the same surface area when the sequence ends. The rolled stock is rotated, e.g., through 90°, and during a second rolling pass sequence, the same two opposite side areas of the rolled stock are rolled in a second direction transversely with respect to the first direction. Thus, material of the rolled stock is automatically redistributed to a desired geometry with a high degree of precision and without the use of vertical rolling stands.