Dr. Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann - Schau Verlag Hamburg

A keen eye on the future: Dr. Wolfgang Leese working out at the Group’s own gym
performance and that of our competitors
whose figures are significantly less impressive.
The reasons for this lies in the measures
I have already referred to as well as the
profitability improvement programs that
have contributed several hundreds of millions
of euros to our bottom line. Management
and a combination of managers and
employees with good ideas, suggestions for
improvement and personal commitment
have also played a substantial part.
stil Salzgitter has taken some important
steps on the path to growth with the acquisition
of precision tubes manufacturer Vallourec
Précision Étirage and a stake of
around 86 percent in plant and equipment
manufacturer Klöckner-Werke. What were
the intentions behind this?
leese Besides the significant world market
Steel
External sales: � 3, 7 billion
positions in different product segments
that these acquisitions have brought us,
we are creating added value for our shareholders.
stil Klöckner-Werke operates in an industry
in which Salzgitter AG has not previously
been involved. What were the objectives for
this commitment?
leese Klöckner-Werke AG forms the nucleus
of our new Technology Division
which offers the prospect of continuous
growth that will in turn have a stabilizing
effect on the Group.
stil Will there be any further growth of this
kind, maybe at the new Technology Division?
leese Certain rounding-off acquisitions
and expansions are currently under consideration
at this division.
Salzgitter Group
External sales cons.: � 10,1 billion Employees: 24 000
Tubes
External sales: � 2, 04 billion
Trading
External sales: � 5,021 billion
PHOTO: PETER LENKE
stil You took up your present post in the
year 2000 with the motto of “independence
through profitability and growth”. How secure
is the Group’s business independence?
leese In the light of our success in recent
years, the firm position of the State government
and the comments made by
Minister President Christian Wulff, our
other stable shareholders and the buyback
of ten percent of our shares, I am less
concerned about our independence.
stil The process of concentration in the steel
industry continues unabated. Salzgitter regards
itself as a niche player. What opportunities
and risks does this position hold?
leese The continuing concentration process
being played out among the dominant
players in the steel industry offers some
outstanding opportunities for us as a
niche player. It is our high-quality products,
our flexibility, our close ties to our
customers and our reliability that set us
apart.
stil Where do your see Salzgitter AG in
three years’ time?
leese We are quite clear on that: We intend
to continuously increase sales to between
13 and 15 billion euros. And over the cycle
we are targeting an ROCE (return on capital
employed) of on average 15 percent.
In addition to that, we also want to enhance
our already positive image.
stil Since you have been Chairman of the
Executive Board, one of your main concerns
has been to increase the willingness at all
levels of hierarchy to embrace change. Are
we fully up to speed by now?
leese We’re moving, but future competition
will make further demands on us
with the result that we must become progressively
faster and fitter.
Services
External sales: � 1,1 billion
Technology
External sales: � 0,5 billion
The History of the Salzgitter Group
Steel and the climate
Steel is part of the solution, not the problem. New materials for the automotive sector
Words like natural resources
and energy efficiency are
on everyone’s lips
nowadays. Hardly a day
passes without climate change featuring
in news broadcasts, talk shows and documentaries.
Only the emphasis varies, from
cutting emission budgets in the context of
CO 2 certificate trading, to missed trends
in the automotive industry or attempts to
ban light bulbs.
The steel industry finds itself squarely involved
in this irreversible process of discussion
and development. On the one hand,
there is the question of the CO 2 released by
our production processes. On the other hand,
however, it is also essential to consider the
contribution that the use of our steels can
make towards increasing our customers’
energy efficiency.
Input materials such as ore and scrap, reduction
agents and energy account for up to
three quarters of the cash cost of steel production
in Germany. For this reason alone,
there is of necessity a sustained economic
pressure at all levels of our undertaking to
conserve resources wherever possible in the
production of steel. For example, iron effi-
ciency has been increased to 0 percent to
date. Similarly, the reduction of around 40
percent since 1 0 in our specific primary energy
consumption per ton of crude steel demonstrates
the successful efforts we have made.
But does this mean that, given the successes
already achieved, the steel industry feels no
further obligation to increase the resource and
energy efficiency of its own production processes?
Indeed not, for at Salzgitter the issue of
efficiency is also an indicator of innovation.
Our continuing achievements in the development
of new materials for the automotive sector
are a prime example. With the production
here in Salzgitter of high- and ultra-highstrength
steels for automotive applications we
are already making a significant contribution
towards protecting the climate. It has been
shown that the development and use of these
steels compensates for a good 15 percent of
the process-dependent non-reducible emissions
during manufacture. This is a great opportunity
for steel products to prove themselves
in the climate debate. Developments in
the field of final-size casting offer the prospect
of new steel grades for the automobile industry
that will allow even greater scope for lightweight
autobody designs. It is becoming very
1923
Foundation
Klöckner Werke AG
clear that in the debate on climate change,
steel as a material is less a part of the problem
than a future-oriented element in the endeavors
by the economy as a whole to increase resource
and energy efficiency.
In future the companies that lead the field
will be those that make most effective use of
their employees’ skills and knowledge, not
least in matters of resource-efficiency. An
analysis of our profitability improvement
program, as well as our employee suggestion
scheme shows that almost a third of the
achievements made concern the consumption
of energy and resources. Climate change
can only be overcome through the knowledge-based
networking of processes and
products. Hysteria and scaremongering will
most certainly not resolve the problem. However,
one-dimensional approaches such as
curtailing highly efficient production as a result
of emissions trading are equally unlikely
to bring us any closer to the desired result.
Making the most of the available opportunities
on a global scale is dependent on deploying
technically intelligent solutions as a helping
hand to enable the developing economies
to use resources and energy efficiently in their
pursuit of growth.
stil stil
1858
Foundation
Ilseder Hütte
1970
Stahlwerke
Peine-Salzgitter AG
1989
Preussag Stahl AG
1998
Salzgitter AG
Steel and
Technology
1937
Foundation
“Reichswerke”
1945
Salzgitter
Hüttenwerk AG
1992/95
Privatization
and Integration
1597
Foundation
Ilsenburger Kupferhammer
1945
Nationalization
since 1946
Production of heavy plate
2000
Acquisition MRW
2007
Acquisition KWAG
1890
Foundation
Mannesmannröhren-
Werke AG (MRW)
1970
Cooperation
Thyssen (steel) /
Mannesmann (tubes)
2000
Takeover by Vodafone
1979
Acquisition
Holstein und Kappert
1994
Divestiture of the steel
production