Steel for military defence, safety and protection is gaining in importance against the backdrop of warfare, especially in Ukraine, European representatives stated at the recent Zukunft Stahl conference, attended by Kallanish.
Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, Western Europe “sports an attitude that is more relaxed than I deem adequate,” said Matthias Puschnig, colonel at Germany’s armed forces, and representative of the Defence Ministry.
Puschnig made the comments during a panel focused on steel for safety, along with speakers from SSAB, Salzgitter AG and defence technology supplier Rheinmetall.
On the army’s requirement for steel, he said “the thinner it is, the lower the weight, the better.”
He cited SSAB ceo Johnny Sjöström, who remarked in his presentation that “speed matters in war”.
Sjöström gave the example of Finnish-made tanks that save several tonnes in weight, and reach a speed of 100km/hour. He also noted that the capacities for thinner plate with the necessary microstructure are limited in Europe, and that “there is not a single army vehicle in Europe” without SSAB steel.
Meanwhile, Mirko Loos, vice president at Europe’s largest producer of military technology, Rheinmetall, underlined that his company will keep sourcing its steels domestically.
“We shun the risk of sourcing steel from far outside Europe,” he said. He noted that the technology is not an easy one, and that he had to reject approaches from makers of automotive parts trying to jump the line. “There is a wave building up, and many things are changing at present,” he said.
Another company increasing its activities in defence steels with several approvals received last year is Salzgitter, represented at the debate by Thorsten Gintaut, managing director of plate mill Grobblechwerke der Salzgitter.
In terms of volume and sales, defence makes only a one-digit percentage of the German steelmaker’s business, “and will remain a niche market”.
However, it is the one sector of application with tangible growth potential, “and we can participate in that – with plate, with components, and by means of external acquisition”.
At a separate event, Salzgitter ceo Gunnar Groebler said during the company’s annual press conference that he was astonished by the quick pace at which certain approvals for military purposes were granted last year.
For these activities, he said: “2026 for us will be a year of transition and test supplies; the volumes will follow in 2027.”
