Dr. Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann - Schau Verlag Hamburg

PHOTOS: PETEr LEnkE
steel steel
Salzgitter Steel Strategy 2012 “We are increasing
On the offensive with high-quality products
Wide-ranging investment program in steel
Salzgitter AG intends to further expand
its position as a niche supplier
with competitive advantages
in cost structures, product quality,
productivity and flexibility as well as
closeness to customers.
With these aims mind, the company
has meanwhile formulated its “Salzgitter
Steel Strategy 2012” – an investment program
tailored to generate decisive internal
growth. In the meantime, parts of the
program have already been implemented.
“With this ambitious investment program
we are pursuing our overriding
corporate objective, namely to preserve
the independence of our enterprise
through profitability and growth,” reports
Hans Fischer, the Executive Board
member at SZAG with responsibility for
Steel. These investments will enable the
Group to substantially step up the pace
of its high-quality steel products offensive,
while creating up to 500 new jobs in
the process.
The entire program is valued at around
1,7 billion euros and comprises four
projects to be implemented by the companies
Peiner Träger, Salzgitter Flachstahl
and Ilsenburger Grobblech, as well
as the manufacture of HSD steels using
strip casting technology.
A second electrofurnace will be built
in Peine to produce crude steel, increasing
the production capacity at the plant
to around two million tons of crude steel
per year. This will result in an expansion
of the precision metallurgy facility.
Here, the customer specified properties are
achieved through alloying and other process
stages at the ladle furnaces and vacuum
plants. The continuous casting line in
Peine will be fitted out for the production
of slabs and the two mill trains will also be
modified. The capacity of the heavy section
mill will be increased and the universal
medium section mill, known as
UMIT, will be adapted to produce special
sections for applications such as forklift
trucks. In addition, substantial investments
will also be committed to logistics
The capacity of the hot strip mill will be
expanded over the coming years
in order to cope with the increased
volume of materials (for example,
scrap, input stock and finished products).
The package of measures is ex-
pected to be completed by 2010.
In Salzgitter the production of pig iron
will be optimized. In addition, a fourth
continuous casting line will be built to
produce thick slabs up to 350 mm. The
precision metallurgy facility will be expanded,
and the capacity of the hot
wide strip mill will be increased to
4.5 million tons. Meanwhile, Ilsenburg
will benefit from several smaller
investments in the plate mill.
A decisive step towards a new form
of rolled steel production will be taken
with the introduction of Belt Strip
Technology (BeST). A pilot plant is
to be built in Peine for continuous
strip casting which will put the experience
gained by the Salzgitter Mannesmann
Forschung research unit in cooperation
with the Clausthal University
of Technology into practice in an industrial
context. The process involves
pouring liquid steel horizontally direct
from the ladle to form a thin strip.
The strip is then rolled directly to produce
finished hot strip, which can then
be processed into cold-rolled strip as
required. The decisive advantages of
the process include the omission of entire
production stages and the ability
to produce innovative grades of steel,
among them HSD (High Strength and
Ductility) steels. As their name implies,
these high-manganese steels developed
in cooperation with Corus are distinguished
by high strength coupled with
high ductility. HSD steels have been
developed for numerous applications
which typically combine complex geometric
shapes with a need for great
strength. The new plant is targeted to
produce the first HSD steels by the end
of 2009.
Salzgitter AG has already implemented
one extensive program of investment
in plant and processes during
the period from 2000 to 2006. Among
the important elements of this program
were the development of surface
treatment with the construction of a
new strip coating plant and a second
hot-dip galvanizing plant, an initial
modernization of the hot wide strip
mill, the recommissioning of blast furnace
C, a third continuous casting line,
a beam blank plant in Peine and an intensive
cooling plant and a cold leveler
in Ilsenburg.
Currently, the power station in
Salzgitter is undergoing complete
modernization and a continuous pickling
line and hot strip cut-to-length
line are under construction, among
other projects.
The Group’s own power station in Salzgitter is currently being modernized The existing electrofurnace in Peine will be joined by a second unit
integration
within the Group”
With its “Salzgitter Steel 2012” strategy,
the Steel Division of Salzgitter AG aims to
take a decisive step forward in terms of
growth. stil international talked to
Hans Fischer, Executive Board member
Steel, about the most important changes.
stil By 2012, the Steel Division
of Salzgitter AG aims to take a
decisive step forward in terms
of growth. Which are the most
significant individual projects?
hans fischer The overall
“Salzgitter Steel 2012” project
is divided into the four subprojects
PTG 2010, SZFG
2012, ILG 2010 and HSD Steels/Thin Strip
Casting. With the construction of a second
electrofurnace, crude steel capacity at Peiner
Träger GmbH (PTG) will increase to around
two million tons per year. In addition to
input stock for beam production, the works
will then also turn out slabs for customers
such as Group member HSP Hoesch Spundwand
und Profil GmbH, enabling us to
reduce the quantity of slabs bought in for
sheet pile production.
stil What are the strategic objectives behind
these investments?
fischer This strategy is another step on the
road towards differentiating the Salzgitter Steel
Group from its competitors. We are broadening
our product variety and pursuing our strategic
decision to manufacture higher quality
steels. At the same time, by introducing new
technical facilities, we are increasing our flexibility
and enhancing production capacity. The
Salzgitter Group regards itself as a niche player.
Our strategy is not one of dominance, we
prefer to concentrate on close customer loyalties,
proximity to the markets and flexibility.
stil How do we differ from the competition?
fischer These investments will increase the
already high level of integration within the
Group as the individual companies become
even more closely harmonized with one
another. Our research unit Salzgitter Mannesmann
Forschung has a decisive role to play in
this context. This unit combines the Group’s
research and development competence, and
dovetails closely with the manufacturing companies.
Solutions are developed in a process of
tight-knit cooperation, which involves Technical
Consulting as well as our customers and
university partners.
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