Salzgitter kept struggling with low market demand in the first half of the year, and in most categories reported lower earnings than a year ago, with sections performing better than flat products, Kallanish notes.
Crude steel production at its Steel Production business unit, comprising the oxygen converter-route strip mill in Salzgitter and EAF-based sections mill in Peine, was 2.49 million tonnes, down from 2.69mt in the first half of 2024.
The unit’s shipments, which cover strip and sections, were virtually on par with the corresponding 2024 period at 2.8mt. Order intake fell slightly below the level of the previous year, from 2.58mt to 2.46mt. The company notes that order intake in the strip steel segment underperformed due to weaker demand, whereas the sections segment remained virtually stable.
Division revenue was lower than the previous year’s figure, totalling €1.7 billion ($1.99 billion) versus €1.81 billion, pressured by the considerable decline in the price of strip steel products. In the sections segment, sales were up year-on-year supported by somewhat higher shipments and prices, Salzgitter says, but does not provide separate figures for the product groups.
Salzgitter’s Steel Process business unit, which covers tubes and heavy plate, saw order intake drop slightly from €911m to €873m. With shipments and selling prices down, revenue fell by about a quarter y-o-y, also due to the spin-off of the stainless tubes subunit.
After a process lasting more than two years, plate unit lsenburger Grobblech GmbH, a producer of defence steels, received the first partial approval from the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) in June. Its Secure 500 steel grade in a thickness range of 6-16mm has been approved for use by the military, in vehicles and protective systems. “We are in the approval process for other steels,” the company notes.
Christian Koehl Germany
