Day: 26 May 2020

French-based engineering group Redex announces that it has acquired strategic patents from BWG GmbH, which it will contribute to the operations of Germany’s Ungerer, which it took over two years ago.

Parallel to the latest acquisition, Redex announces the opening of an engineering centre in Duisburg, with the aim of developing new technologies and to support metal strip producers worldwide. Redex operates production facilities in France (Ferrières) and Germany (Pforzheim), and service centres in China (Shanghai) and the USA (New Jersey) which offer a range from engineering services to complete strip processing lines.

Its German unit Ungerer recently introduced a system for flatness measurement in strip steel that combines the commonly-used high tension and low-tension measurement methods. For the system, named UMS PRO, Ungerer has developed a calculator that allows a quick and easy estimate of the return on investment. For example, for thin stainless steel, the investment in the measuring system pays back after three years, Kallanish hears from the company.

The management of ArcelorMittal Italia met with the Italian authorities and the trade unions to discuss the future of the former Ilva units on 25 May.

The company has assured that a new industrial plan would be ready in the next ten days. The Italian government meanwhile has confirmed that it could ready to support investment in the mills, Kallanish learns from local sources. During the meeting ArcelorMittal Italia’s head Lucia Morselli also mentioned the possibility of restarting the third blast furnace at the Taranto integrated site swiftly.

The meeting came after a series of demonstrations and strikes by workers at the integrated site of Taranto as well as the rolling mills of Genova and Novi Ligure since last week. The workers remain concerned that the company is planning to further cut both output and the workforce due to the problems created by the Covid-19 emergency.

The Taranto plant is producing using only 2 blast furnaces, with the third furnace having been temporarily halted in March as a consequence of the coronavirus output reduction. Morselli explained that the restart of the furnace could be done in 24 hours, as soon as the situation is clear enough to allow it.

The reduction in crude steel output from Taranto had significantly impacted Italian crude steel figures in March and April. The country’s production was down by -40% and -30% y-o-y respectively during the two months, according to the latest World Steel Association figures.