Germany’s Salzgitter steel certified for military use
Steel produced by Salzgitter has been approved for use in the defence industry by Germany’s armed forces, the company said on 8 July.
The approval allows the company to strengthen its position in the growing market for military applications.
The steelmaker received approval from the German Military Technical Center 91 (WTD 91) in accordance with TL (Technical Delivery Conditions) 2350-0000. This officially approves steel grade SECURE 500 in 6-16 mm thicknesses for military use, including vehicles or protective systems.
Salzgitter is already in the approval process for additional steel grades and after obtaining approval, plans to offer a range of products under the SECURE brand name for military use.
Growth of the European defence sector has been widely discussed in the market this year, and certification of products by the militaries of different EU states was identified as one of the issues that could slow down the process. Market participants said that although it is relatively easy for a steelmaker to alter its steel with additional heat treatment to achieve greater hardness for the needs of the defence sector, the certification process was more time consuming.
“Our SECURE 500 steels are quenched and tempered and feature a fine martensitic microstructure. With the granting of TL approval, these steels are now also approved for use by the German Armed Forces – this is a great success after extensive testing,” Thorsten Gintaut, managing director sales of Salzgitter Ilsenburger Grobblech said.
Earlier this year, two Central European heavy plate producers resumed operations partially supported by demand from the defence sector, namely Liberty Steel Galati in Romania and Częstochowa Steelworks in Poland.
In June this year, the European Commission proposed new measures to facilitate EUR800 billion of investment in the defence sector over the next four years. The investment is part of the vision set out in the White Paper for European Defence-Readiness 2030, which outlined actions needed to boost Europe’s defence preparedness.
Maria Tanatar Associate Director, Steel and Green Steel
Germany’s Salzgitter ends talks with consortium regarding its takeover
German steelmaker Salzgitter AG has announced that it has decided to end discussions with the consortium of GP Günter Papenburg Aktiengesellschaft and TSR Recycling GmbH & Co. KG regarding a potential takeover offer.
The decision was made based on significantly differing views on the current and future value of the company due to the positive impact expected from the incoming German government’s economic policy measures and its expanded performance program P28 launched with a savings target of €500 million.
“Salzgitter AG will remain an independent company. Under our expanded P28 performance program we launched additional measures to strengthen our competitiveness,” Gunnar Groebler, CEO of Salzgitter AG, said.
In January this year, the consortium increased its bid to acquire the company to €18.50 per share, valuing Salzgitter at approximately €1.1 billion, as SteelOrbis previously reported.
Hoberg & Driesch, Mannesmann Precision Tubes intensify collaboration
German steel tubes distributor Hoberg & Driesch and Salzgitter AG’s tubemaking subsidiary Mannesmann Precision Tubes have agreed to step up their long-standing partnership.
The move follows Hoberg & Driesch’s acquisition of parts of the tube distribution business from Salzgitter Mannesmann Stahlhandel GmbH.
The objective of the intensified collaboration is to further optimise the interaction between manufacturer and distributor, especially in the field of precision tubes, Hoberg & Driesch says. The partners plan to work together more closely on both stockholding and project business for end customers.
“Together, we can further develop both the stockholding business and end-user project business in a targeted manner, allowing us to offer even more tailored solutions,” says Hanns-Jörg Westendorf, chief executive of Hoberg & Driesch.
The company operates ten locations in 13 countries, with an inventory of 90,000 tonnes.
Thyssenkrupp breaks economic link with Hüttenwerke-Krupp Mannesmann
Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, subsidiary of German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp Steel, is breaking its economic link with Hüttenwerke-Krupp Mannesmann (HKM), the joint venture between Thyssenkrupp Steel, German steelmaker Salzgitter and French pipe manufacturer Vallourec.
The company has announced that it has decided to terminate the supply contract with HKM. As a result, Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe’s obligation to purchase around 2.5 million mt of steel per year will expire on December 31, 2032, at the latest.
Last year, Thyssenkrupp Steel had declared that it intended to divest its stake in HKM as part of its restructuring plan, while the negotiations with Hamburg-based CE Capital Partners on the sale of Thyssenkrupp shares in HKM failed, as SteelOrbis previously reported.
“Due to market conditions, we will have to reduce our production capacities in the long term from the current 11.5 million mt of steel to a shipping target of 8.7 to 9 million mt. The separation from HKM is therefore imperative for us in order to achieve a competitive cost position, to maintain our location in Duisburg-Nord, and to make Thyssenkrupp Steel economically robust and geared up for the future. Irrespective of the termination of the supply contract, the sale of the shares in HKM remains our preferred option. We are open to discussions with all serious interested parties,” Dennis Grimm, spokesman of the executive board of Thyssenkrupp Steel, said.
Salzgitter expands portfolio for defence sector
Salzgitter AG will further expand its portfolio for defence purposes this year, Kallanish heard from chief executive Gunnar Groebler during the firm’s annual results conference on Friday. The firm is also seeking tighter EU restrictions against slab imports from Russia.
“We see good potential for our portfolio in renewable energies, especially wind power, but also in defence,” Groebler said. The German company is already a supplier to the German armed forces, and has now established the brand of “Secure” steels, and a “Defence” task force to coordinate further activities in this direction.
“Geopolitical tensions have set new measures of defence capability, and are creating new demand for security steels and special grades,” the company writes in its presentation.
“We have a wide scope of steels for security purposes, and we are in talks with a number of suppliers of such components,” Groebler noted during the conference. The exploration of market potential for “Secure” steels mainly concerns the group’s Processing unit, which deals with tubes and heavy plate, but also its plate distribution subsidiary Universal.
The company is thus appealing to the European Union for firmer action on slab imports from Russia, which it says rose last year. “It cannot be that we support Russia’s war economy,” Groebler stated. These imports are also rolled into plate in the EU, competing with Salzgitter’s portfolio, mainly of plate products.
On plate prices, the company has observed a relative stabilisation since last autumn, after a longer decline. For sections, prices actually held up quite well throughout 2024, and into this year.
Lindab to source steel from Salzgitter’s Salcos route
Lindab Steel, a subsidiary of ventilation technology group Lindab AB, and Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the delivery of CO2-reduced steel from the producers Salcos route.
The ‘green’ steel produced in this way is used primarily for ventilation products such as air ducting systems and profiled construction products such as roof and facade cladding, Salzgitter says.
“Our ambition is to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the whole value chain by 2050 and we see Salzgitter as a contributing partner on our journey,” says Thommy Psajd, sourcing director at Lindab Steel.
Lindab last year signed a similar deal with Tata Steel Nederland.
Christian Koehl Germany
Salzgitter lays cornerstone for green hydrogen plant
Salzgitter has laid the cornerstone for what it says is one of the largest production plants for green hydrogen in Europe, Kallanish notes.
Starting from 2026, the plant will generate around 9,000 tonnes/year of green hydrogen to be used for the production of carbon-reduced steel. This will mark the start of the industrial use of hydrogen in the company’s SALCOS – Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking – project. The 100 MW electrolysis plant will be supplied by Andritz.
A contract between the two companies was signed in September 2023 (see Kallanish September 2023). The engineering involves partner company HydrogenPro. The partner’s pressurised electrolyser stacks are particularly suited for large-scale industrial application, according to Andritz executive Domenico Iacovelli.
Separately, the steelmaker announces its plate-making subsidiary Ilsenburger Grobblech has signed a contract with wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa for the delivery of around 25,000t of heavy plate.
These will be used for the construction of 36 wind towers of Siemens Gamesa’s “GreenerTower” type. The special feature of this tower is its CO2eq emissions of less than 700 kg per tonne of steel, Salzgitter notes.
The CO2eq-reduced tower has been part of Siemens Gamesa’s product portfolio since 2024. The first use of the towers will be in the “Thor” offshore wind farm in the Danish North Sea. This is planned to be completed by the end of 2027 and have a capacity of more than 1,000 MW.
Christian Koehl Germany
Salzgitter supplies lower-emission steel for onshore wind turbines
Salzgitter has announced its subsidiary Enercon, a wind turbine manufacturer, and engineering company SMB Schönebecker Maschinenbau, part of TM Group, will cooperate to produce wind towers with lower-emission steels.
Enercon is a subsidiary of Salzgitter’s plate making unit, Ilsenburger Grobblech.
The steel tower components from the cooperation will be used in early 2025 on an E-138 EP3 wind turbine as part of the Diepholzer Bruch wind farm project in Lower Saxony, Germany. This will make it one of the first onshore wind turbines in Europe – and the first in Germany – to feature a tower made from lower-emissions steel, Salzgitter notes in a statement sent to Kallanish.
Wind turbines with a hybrid tower concept are made completely of steel, the company notes. The bottom is composed of pre-edged steel plates, and the top of conical steel sections. This type of tower offers advantages both for installation and transport, particularly in view of increasing tower heights with even larger tower base diameters, Salzgitter highlights.
In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the production of heavy plates, Ilsenburger Grobblech is using physically CO2-reduced slab from sister company Peiner Träger and another European partner company. The feedstock is produced entirely from scrap in an electric arc furnace.
Christian Koehl Germany
Private consortium increases non-binding offer to acquire German steelmaker Salzgitter
The consortium consists of GP Günter Papenburg AG, who currently holds 25% shares of Salzgitter and German major recycler TSR Recycling GmbH & Co KG.
“We can confirm that a non-binding offer has been submitted to Salzgitter AG, stating an indicative offer price of €18.50 ($19.28) per share, and that [Salzgitter] is in talks with the consortium,” Salzgitter’s spokesperson told Fastmarkets.
After the news emerged, Salzgitter’s share prices on Frankfurt Stock Exchange jumped to €16.62 per share on January 23, compared with €15.78 per share on the previous day.
“As soon as a formal offer has been received, the Management Board and the Supervisory Board will comprehensively review and evaluate it in accordance to legal obligations,” Salzgitter’s spokesperson added.
In November 2024, GP Günter Papenburg AG and TSR submitted a non-binding offer, but at €17.50 per share, several sources told Fastmarkets.
The consortium is looking to achieve an aggregate shareholding of at least 45% plus one share, including the shares already held by the German construction company, Fastmarkets previously reported.
Currently, the German state of Lower Saxony is the largest shareholder in the company at 26.5%, according to Salzgitter’s data. GP Gunter Papenburg currently owns a share of 25.1%, and Salzgitter has 10%. The rest of the shares are distributed among other retail and institutional investors.
“In recent months, the state government has held intensive discussions on the plan for a possible takeover of Salzgitter AG by the Papenburg Group and TSR. According to the considerations known to the state so far, no economic advantage or contribution to the sustainable development of Salzgitter AG could be seen from the proposed conditions,” a statement from Lower Saxony’s Ministry of Finance, received by Fastmarkets on January 23, said.
“New and more specific conditions have now apparently been proposed to Salzgitter AG, which must first be examined and evaluated by the board of directors of Salzgitter AG. The Ministry of Finance is not yet aware of the proposal in detail…The state does not plan to sell its shares in Salzgitter AG,” the statement said.
Market brief
Salzgitter currently runs three blast furnaces with a combined capacity of about 4.8 million tonnes per year of crude steel. The company produces hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, electro-galvanized, hot-dipped galvanized and organic coated steel sheet.
The company posted negative financial result for the first nine months of 2024, according to the latest reported published in November 2024.
Company’s steel sales in January-September 2024 decreased by 8.07% compared with the same period of time in 2023 to €7.7 billion. For the same period the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization dropped by 44.3% year on year to €320.6 million.
Earnings before interest and taxes was at a loss of €54.6 million compared with a profit of €341.6 million in January-September 2023.
Market conditions in Europe have remained challenging, with real steel consumption deteriorating, with the construction sector in particular suffering from weak demand — under pressure from higher interest rates and rising building costs.
In October 2024, Fastmarkets daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe averaged €549.25 per tonne, the lowest level since November 2020, when the index averaged €530.72 per tonne
This report was updated to include quotes from Lower Saxony’s Ministry of Finance on Thursday January 23.
Cogne finalizes Mannesmann tubes acquisition to expand stainless footprint
Italian long stainless steel and nickel alloy producer Cogne Acciai Speciali has finalized the acquisition of Mannesmann Stainless Tubes from German steelmaker Salzgitter, it said Nov. 1.
The Eur135 million ($144.5 million) deal was first announced in February, with Cogne saying at the time that the acquisition would widen its footprint to encompass the market for seamless tubes and stainless steel nickel alloy pipes. The EC cleared the merger in June.
“With this new acquisition we realize a further step in our strategy, which brings us a historic player in the seamless tube market, whose upstream integration with Cogne will make it even more competitive,” Cogne CEO Massimiliano Burelli said.
Mannesmann Stainless Tubes produces seamless stainless steel and nickel-based tubes in Germany, France, Italy and the US.
Upon joining the group, the company will be renamed DMV. Cogne previously provided Mannesmann with semi-finished products.
Cogne manufactures long products in stainless steel and nickel-based alloys for the aerospace, automotive and energy industries, as well as supplying the medical technology, food, chemical and plant engineering, and mechanical engineering sectors.
Platts, part of S&P Commodity Insight, assessed European 18-8 stainless steel scrap solids at Eur1,1170/mt Nov.1 on a CIF Rotterdam basis, stable on the day and up Eur10 week over week.
The 18-8 stainless steel scrap clips and solids are a commonly used reference for the grade-304 stainless steel scrap. The scrap contains a minimum of 16% chrome content and minimum of 7% nickel content.
