Category: Latest Updates

Achern – Von Achern in die ganze Welt: In seiner 175-jährigen Geschichte hat sich KASTO zu einem international erfolgreichen Unternehmen entwickelt. Rund um den Globus sorgt ein engmaschiges Netzwerk aus Niederlassungen und Vertretungen dafür, dass der Säge- und Lagertechnik-Spezialist immer nah an den Märkten und seinen Kunden ist und einen schnellen und individuellen Service anbieten kann.

In den 1970er Jahren zählt KASTO bereits zu den innovativen Anbietern von Metallsäge- und Lagertechnik für Industrie und Handwerk. Die Lösungen des Familienunternehmens aus dem badischen Achern sind gefragt – nicht nur auf dem Heimatmarkt, sondern auch über die Landesgrenzen hinaus. Um die Kunden und Märkte außerhalb Deutschlands besser bedienen zu können, setzt KASTO deshalb auf Internationalisierung. Dieser Schritt ist für den weiteren Erfolg des Herstellers von zentraler Bedeutung.

Erster Schritt ins Ausland führt nach Frankreich

1977 gründet KASTO im benachbarten Frankreich seine erste Niederlassung. Der jetzige Hauptstandort im elsässischen Obernai ist nur wenige Kilometer vom deutschen Stammsitz entfernt – das erleichtert die Organisation und sorgt für kurze Wege. Zielbranchen sind der Stahlhandel, der Fensterbau und die Luftfahrtindustrie. Heute betreut KASTO France mit 30 Mitarbeitern rund 4.000 Kunden in Frankreich, Belgien, Luxemburg und Nordafrika und erzielt einen erheblichen Teil des stetig steigenden Auslandsumsatzes von KASTO.

Kurze Zeit später eröffnet KASTO im US-amerikanischen Pittsburgh eine weitere Niederlassung. Bedingt durch die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung in den USA erlebte dieser Standort Höhen und Tiefen: Aus dem ehemals boomenden „Steel Belt“, wie die Region um die Stadt aufgrund ihrer starken Stahlindustrie genannt wurde, wurde in Krisenzeiten der „Rust Belt“. Seit Ende der 2000er Jahre geht es in Pittsburgh wieder bergauf, zahlreiche Technologieunternehmen haben sich dort angesiedelt. Die amerikanische KASTO Inc. mit ca. 40 Mitarbeitern und einem umfangreichen Ersatzteillager ist auch für Anwender in Kanada Ansprechpartner. 2018 weiht das Unternehmen einen neuen Showroom mit Technology Center in Chicago ein. Kunden haben dort unter anderem die Möglichkeit, Maschinen und digitale Lösungen vorab zu sehen und Testschnitte durchzuführen.

Reif für die Insel

Anfang der 1990er Jahre baut KASTO im thüringischen Schalkau ein Zweigwerk auf. 2003 positioniert sich das Unternehmen auch auf dem britischen Markt mit einer eigenen Niederlassung. KASTO UK ist heute mit seinen 13 Mitarbeitern sowohl für das vereinigte Königreich und Irland verantwortlich als auch für die Betreuung der Kunden in Dänemark und Finnland sowie im Nahen und Mittleren Osten. Damit ist das Unternehmen breit genug aufgestellt, um auch die wirtschaftlichen Risiken des aktuell bevorstehenden EU-Austritts Großbritanniens abfedern zu können.

Als KASTO ab 2015 seine ersten Schritte auf dem asiatischen Kontinent macht, ist das Unternehmen konfrontiert mit Protektionismus, gesetzlichen Einschränkungen und administrativen Hürden. Eine Firma zu gründen ist in einem Land wie China ein sehr langwieriger Prozess. Von Rechtsformen über die Personalsuche und Versicherungen bis zur lokalen Gesetzgebung funktionieren viele Dinge komplett anders als in Deutschland. KASTO schafft es, sich erfolgreich in Asien zu etablieren: 2015 entsteht eine Niederlassung in Singapur, 2018 kommt eine weitere im chinesischen Taicang hinzu. Die Kunden profitieren von einem deutlich schnelleren und flexibleren Service – und von Mitarbeitern, die mit den jeweiligen Ländern und Kulturen vertraut sind und die Landessprache beherrschen.

Weltweit erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit

In 2016 gründet KASTO eine Niederlassung im schweizerischen Rheinfelden. Die Präsenz im Land bietet erhebliche Vorteile – etwa ein noch kundennäherer Service und eine zügigere Versorgung mit Ersatzteilen. Und auch hier freuen sich die Kunden über eine Betreuung in der Landessprache Schwyzerdütsch.

Damit ist KASTO mittlerweile in sechs Ländern mit eigenen Niederlassungen vertreten und hat zahlreiche unabhängige Vertretungen in vielen Ländern der Welt. Die Sägen und Lager aus Achern sind heute in jedem Winkel der Erde zu finden: zum Beispiel auf La Réunion im Indischen Ozean, auf den Karibik-Inseln Martinique und Trinidad, auf den griechischen Kykladen, in Namibia, im Oman und sogar in Neukaledonien im Pazifik. Dabei haben sie es mitunter mit extremen Umgebungsbedingungen zu tun, etwa im finnischen Lappland, den Bergen Nepals oder der Sahara in Algerien – das macht die Lieferung und Installation, aber auch den Betrieb gelegentlich zur Herausforderung. Die hohe Qualität und die robuste Konstruktion der KASTO-Lösungen sorgen jedoch dafür, dass diese zuverlässig ihre Aufgaben erfüllen.

Für die Zukunft hat sich der Hersteller zum Ziel gesetzt, seine internationalen Standorte weiter zu stärken und den steigenden Umsatzanteil im Ausland auszubauen.

Über KASTO:

Die KASTO Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG mit Sitz im badischen Achern ist auf Säge- und Lagertechnik für Metall-Langgut spezialisiert. Das Unternehmen ist weltweiter Markt- und Technologieführer für Metallsägemaschinen, halbautomatische und automatische Langgut- und Blechlagersysteme, automatische Handlingeinrichtungen für Metallstäbe, Bleche und Zuschnitte sowie die dazugehörige Software. KASTO feiert 2019 sein 175-jähriges Bestehen und zählt somit zu den ältesten Familienbetrieben in ganz Europa. 170 Patente, mehr als 140.000 in alle Welt gelieferte Sägemaschinen und über 2.200 installierte Automatiklager zeugen vom Erfolg des Unternehmens. Neben einem Zweigwerk im thüringischen Schalkau verfügt KASTO über Niederlassungen in England, Frankreich, Singapur, China, der Schweiz und den USA.

Quelle und Bilder: KASTO Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG

Bildhinweise: oben: KASTO in Großbritannien, Mitte: KASTO in USA , unten: KASTO in Schalkau, Thüringen

Author: by Angelika Albrecht

Italian car output lowered again in April. The monthly figure is confirming the downward trend seen in the first quarter of 2019, Kallanish learns from local carmakers’ association Associazione Nazionale Filiera Industria Automobilistica (Anfia).

According to preliminary data, passenger car production fell in April by a significant -22% compared to April 2018. Overall in the first four months of the year passenger car production has also fallen by -19% year-on-year.

No volumes for the periods have been disclosed by Anfia. Based on known 2018 data, Italian car output in April 2018 was 62,000 units and 238,000 units over the period January-April 2018.

Total vehicle output in April 2019, including heavy and light vehicles, also fell y-o-y by -10.9%. Anfia also registered a total vehicle output decrease of -9,9% over the period January-April compared to the same period in 2018.

Car production in Italy had slowed significantly in 2018 by -10% year-on-year to 671,000 units. The country’s total output of vehicles including heavy transport was 1.06 million units, down by -7% y-o-y.

The UK House of Commons business, energy and industrial strategy select committee this weekend launched an inquiry into the future of the steel industry in the country, with the former owners of British Steel to be the first called to testify.

The BEIS Committee’s short inquiry on the future of steel in the UK will follow up on issues raised in a committee sector report and follows the recent liquidation of British Steel. There are also concerns about the potential impact of Brexit on the future health of the steel industry. The committee will hold its first session on June 26, hearing from the former British Steel owner Greybull Capital.

The inquiry will investigate “the role of Greybull Capital and other owners in supporting the UK steel industry as a whole,” the committee said, as well as “the performance of government in supporting the competitiveness of the UK steel industry through a sector deal and other policies.”

The inquiry will also examine the impact of Brexit with or without a withdrawal agreement. Uncertainty continues to plague the future of UK steel mills and supply chains, with the destiny of Tata Steel’s mill at Port Talbot, Wales — the UK’s largest steel plant — hanging in the balance.

The committee said it “expects to hold public evidence sessions with Greybull Capital, the trade union community, Tata, Liberty, Celsa and UK Steel, and the Secretary of State Rt Hon Greg Clark MP.

“A second hearing is expected to take place in mid-July,” according to the committee, which is inviting written submissions with a deadline of June 20.

— Annalisa Villa

ArcelorMittal denied a number of rumours at the end of last week which had indicated that it was planning significant job cuts and production reductions at its longs mills in Luxembourg, Kallanish notes.

The company confirms that it is launching a transformation project for the next five years for the mills of Belval and Differdange aimed at reinforcing the position of the units in the long term.

“The transformation project aims to restore the competitiveness of the Belval and Differdange sites, which has been eroded by various external factors, including record levels of dumped imports into Europe, an increase in raw material costs and energy as well as of carbon, which more than tripled between January 2018 and the end of April 2019, and finally tariffs imposed by the United States on steel imports,” the company says.

“This comprehensive transformation project to enhance the long-term competitiveness and profitability of the sites focuses on cost and benefit improvements, as well as investments to improve processes and productivity,” it concludes.

Earlier last week source within both local Luxembourg trade unions and the government had mentioned that ArcelorMittal was planning to cut up to 260 jobs at the sites.

The European Commission plans to accelerate its review of safeguard measures on EU imports of steel products, but the results are unlikely to be released before 1 July when the new quota period begins, commission sources have said.

The commission has been under pressure from EU mills to tighten the safeguard quotas, while buyers and traders have pushed for relaxation of the measures. It began the review of the measures on 17 May and previously expected to conclude the investigation before 30 September.

Finishing the review by 1 July would be difficult because of specific rules and procedures, but the commission intends to conclude it and modify the quotas if required as quickly as possible, the sources said.

The steel import quotas reset on 1 July, with exporters to the EU gaining access to the market again. The quota volumes for each product will rise by 5pc of the average of imports in 2015-17. The date is crucial for sellers of long products such as rebar and wire rod, as well as certain flats like galvanised steel used in the automotive industry.

EU buyers of steel products are lobbying for the loosening of the safeguards, while European mills are pushing to block the 5pc quota relaxation, as well as the addition of country-by-country quotas for imports of hot-rolled coils.

Around 75% of European tariff-free quotas for the period ending 30 June have now been filled, Kallanish learns from the latest European Commission (EC) official data. The quotas were set earlier this year as part of the EU’s permanent safeguard system.

Overall some 10.2 million tonnes of quotas were available in the period ending 30 June 2019. A total of 7.7mt of these quotas have now been used.

New quotas will be available from the beginning of July. Most key product categories however have seen the available tariff-free volumes exhausted, meaning that imports into Europe will remain mostly absent in the coming weeks.

In more detail, most of the quotas for the import of metallic coated sheet have been fully taken up. Those for rebar, organic coated sheet, stainless bars and sections, stainless wire rod, non-alloy wire rod, hollow sections and non-alloy wire have also been fully subscribed.

The EC is reviewing the system while steelmakers are vociferously asking for for more stringent measures. Importers meanwhile are expecting some changes in quotas for specific products such as rebar and wire rod.

The Russian Industry and Trade ministry is working on a proposal to restrict the export of ferrous scrap. This is to be done by implementing regional quotas, deputy minister Victor Evtuhov is quoted as saying on the fringes of an industry event in Lipetsk last week.

In addition, the ministry is considering moving scrap trade to the Saint-Petersburg mercantile exchange. “There are positive and negatives, and it is work in progress. But one way or another, we shall find a way to keep as much ferrous scrap within the country as steel producers need,” he says.

The work in progress quota proposal is based on the premise that some regions have plentiful scrap procurement resources and very low or no consumption, and these regions could export 100% of their scrap. But regions such as Far Eastern, north-western and central European parts of the country suffer from an outflow of the material due to high demand from steel mills in the area.

Russian Far Eastern scrap-based steel mill Amurstal is one of the steelmakers that had been suffering most from a shortage of scrap supplies. This eventually led to its bankruptcy and acquisition by a scrap procurement company. The mill had been lobbying for scrap export restrictions for many years, some of which have been temporarily implemented and cancelled on competition grounds by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS).

The problem of feedstock supply eventually inspired Amurstal to re-visit the plan to switch to metallised feedstock such as iron ore pellets or nuggets.

Russian exports of ferrous scrap fell -18% in the first quarter of 2019 to 943,500 tonnes. South Korea imports from the Russian Far East took 16% of the total, with the largest importer Turkey taking 40% and Belarus, 26%. 

The European Commission will not allow the proposed merger between German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel’s European operations to go ahead, because the firms did not adequately offer to remedy the expected reduction in competition and resulting higher steel prices.

The decision aims to protect competition in European steel markets and ensure that the automotive and packaging industries are not threatened, the commission said. Tata and ThyssenKrupp are the third and second largest European producers, respectively.

The commission began an in-depth investigation into the proposed joint venture at the end of October, but had to pause it in December because the firms did not supply certain information in a timely manner. It reopened the investigation on 15 January and on 1 April the two steelmakers submitted a package of commitments to address the commission’s concerns.

But on 10 May, ThyssenKrupp and Tata said they expect the commission to block the merger, as it required further commitments by the companies that they believed would make the joint venture economically unviable. ThyssenKrupp said it would instead focus on an initial public offering of its elevator manufacturing business, while Tata remains committed to deconsolidating its European assets.

The commission said that it received feedback from a large number of packaging and automotive industry customers who were concerned about higher steel prices for metallic coated and laminated steel products — notably tinplate — and hot-dip galvanised steel.

And the commission said that imports from third countries would not be able to compensate for increased local prices, because of quality requirements and longer delivery times.

In addition, the firms’ proposed divestments were inadequate to meet the commission’s demands, and did not include any assets, producing the raw materials necessary for galvanised products and tinplate.

The European Commission plans to accelerate its review of safeguard measures on EU imports of steel products, but the results are unlikely to be released before 1 July when the new quota period begins, commission sources have said.

The commission has been under pressure from EU mills to tighten the safeguard quotas, while buyers and traders have pushed for relaxation of the measures. It began the review of the measures on 17 May and previously expected to conclude the investigation before 30 September.

Finishing the review by 1 July would be difficult because of specific rules and procedures, but the commission intends to conclude it and modify the quotas if required as quickly as possible, the sources said.

The steel import quotas reset on 1 July, with exporters to the EU gaining access to the market again. The quota volumes for each product will rise by 5pc of the average of imports in 2015-17. The date is crucial for sellers of long products such as rebar and wire rod, as well as certain flats like galvanised steel used in the automotive industry.

EU buyers of steel products are lobbying for the loosening of the safeguards, while European mills are pushing to block the 5pc quota relaxation, as well as the addition of country-by-country quotas for imports of hot-rolled coils.

Heavy sections buyers in the UK are concerned about availability of supply in the event that British Steel’s sections production ceases.

There are potential suitors for part of British Steel’s sections business, including the Skinningrove mill, which makes sections primarily used by yellow goods producers. But the heavier sections offering is largely viewed as inefficient because of the distance of the Lackenby rolling mill from the Scunthorpe bloom and billet casting operation.

Buyers’ fears are heightened by the European Commission’s definitive steel safeguard, which caps sections imports substantially below figures for two of the last three years. The tariff rate quota for 1 July this year to 30 June next year is 337,351t, below the 415,827t imported into the EU28 last year, and the 382,648t figure for 2016.

There is limited production of British Standard 4 category C imperial size sections, as many mills do not produce such sizes as they take longer to roll than lighter sections. There is more supply of lighter category A and B material.

Offers still come from South Korea, Bahrain and the UAE, the latter two of which can only sell into the other countries’ quota, which stands at 37,964 from July 1 this year to June 30 2020. Korea’s quota, at close to 26,664t, is a real concern for buyers and traders, who fear they could end up owing 25pc tariffs in the event that they clear customs once the quota is critical or exhausted.

One buyer recently wanted to place an order for Korean material, but did not because it was concerned about the existing quota being exhausted. As a result some traders and independent buyers argue that the safeguard should not be country by country because smaller quotas for some countries effectively act as a total trade barrier.

Traders and buyers also argue that mill ownership of distribution assets, across the European flats and longs complexes, creates the necessity for an import market.

In the UK the sole domestic rebar producer, Celsa, owns around 45pc of the downstream fabrication market. It can produce around 1.2mn t/yr of finished long steel at its nameplate capacity, and sources estimate its rebar capacity at 700,000-800,000t/yr. The UK and Irish rebar market is in excess of 1mn t/yr, necessitating a degree of imports. And independent fabricators and service centres in general dislike buying from their competition, and want other supply sources where possible.

It was this tension that led to the creation of the British Independent Reinforcement Fabricators Association in September 2015. Independent fabricators said that the existing British Association of Reinforcement was too focused on mill-tied operations, so set up their own association in conjunction with traders.

The UK rebar market also has other vagaries, such as its use of Cares-approved material — this high-tensile rebar has its own HS code, but has not been included in the European safeguard. UK buyers have thus rushed to secure third-country tonnage, with Turkey the largest source; the Turkish quota was used up within days of opening in the first safeguard periods since 2 February, and the other countries’ quota also fills up quickly upon opening, primarily as traders sell Turkish material into it. One trader had almost 60,000t of rebar to clear into the first quota period starting 2 February, when the total quota for Turkey was only around 117,000t. As a result it, and many other traders, held over material to deliver into the April allocation. This means buyers do not get their steel, and projects are being postponed as a result. Where construction projects are halted or delayed, it has a knock-on effect on the whole steel complex and the wider economy.

One rebar buyer in the UK is sitting on almost 20,000t of material that has not cleared customs, so he has had to source from a competitor to meet his immediate needs.

The UK’s sustainable steel scheme also includes a provision that rebar cannot be purchased from over 1,500 miles away; this would effectively mean primarily Spanish and UK supply would be viable Cares-approved material.