German service centre EMW invests in new warehouse

German service centre EMW Stahl Service has acquired the northern part of the former production site of pipemaker EEW Bergrohr in Siegen, North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) state. The property comprises around 23,000 square metres of commercial space, production halls and its own rail connection, Kallanish learns from the company.

EMW plans to build a warehouse with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes of steel sheet on the former production site, with the possibility to extend it in future. The halls will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including new crane systems for four handling areas, as well as a sophisticated loading and safety concept, the firm says.

The investment, in the double-digit million range, is part of the company’s aim of concentrating locations. Due to constant growth over the past few years, EMW has built new external warehouses at various locations. By concentrating the warehouses at this new central location, it is possible to reduce their number from 13 to 3, EMW notes.

It highlights the site’s railway connection, which will halve the number of truck journeys that were necessary up to now. “In the future, at least two thirds of incoming goods will be received by rail,” it states. So far, 300,000 t/year of steel are already being transferred from road to rail – the aim for the future is 600,000t.

EMW is a business unit of processor group Schäfer Werke, headquartered in Neunkirchen, also in the Siegerland region.

Christian Koehl Germany