German independent steel service center Stahlo is expanding its Gera-based facility and will double its slitting capacity to 300,000 mt/y, the company said in a note on its website.
Stahlo, which is part of the Friedhelm Loh Group, will invest €45 million in a new 22,000 square meter production hall and has bought additional land neighboring its existing Gera site which opened in 2004.
With an additional slitter, the site will be able to slit up to 60 strips in one step with a tear strength of 1,900 Newton per square millimeter. Stahlo will also process aluminum with an additional contour cutting line in future. The planned opening is scheduled for early 2019.
The expansion also involves creation of a direct railway connection. “We are almost exclusively shipping our outgoing goods via truck, but in future we want to handle up to 80% of incoming goods via rail,” said managing director Guido Spenrath.
The Gera site caters primarily for the automotive industry and auto suppliers such as VW in Zwickau as well as the white goods industry. Stahlo’s portfolio ranges from slitted coils, cut-to-size sheets, standard sheets, blanks and contoured blanks.
Laura Varriale, PLATTS
