thyssenkrupp Steel puts together largest investment package in 20 years

With this investment package, thyssenkrupp Steel is underpinning its claim to technology and quality leadership, and strengthening its position in the European market:

• The expansion of the existing lines will go hand in hand with increased production capacity, which enhances delivery and schedule reliability.
• The modernizations are part of the company's 20-30 strategy, which aims to focus more on profitable and growing markets arising, for example, from the energy turnaround and advancing electric mobility.
• The focus is on high-quality steel grades which are required, among other things, for efficient electric mobility solutions in the area of motors and generators: powercore^® Traction, for example. Products from the premium surfaces segment such as ZM Ecoprotect^® and dual-phase steels, which are required above all for lightweight automotive construction in structural components and for crash-relevant components in the automotive sector, also continue to be of great importance.

The new and rebuilt facilities will enable thyssenkrupp Steel to optimally meet the changing needs of the market, e.g. demand for tighter tolerances as well as thinner and wider products. In principle, the investments in the production sites make an important contribution to the targeted climate-neutral steel production – and thus to the current transformation of thyssenkrupp Steel in general.

Duisburg site

Continuous casting line 4 & hot strip mill 4

At the Duisburg site, the former casting-rolling plant is being converted into a continuous casting plant with a downstream hot strip mill. The project is the largest single construction measure within the overall investment package. The casting-rolling plant in Bruckhausen has been shut down and partially dismantled since the end of October 2024 to make room for the new plant components. Up to 1,000 employees from thyssenkrupp Steel and partner companies are currently working on the construction site every day to erect the new buildings and units. The new continuous caster and the modernized hot strip mill will then go into trial operation and thus into ramp-up from May 2025. The slab warehouse will be put into operation before May 2025. The modernization will allow the plant's casting and rolling capacities to be increased and the capacity utilization of the upstream steel mill to be improved. In addition, the process-optimized plant technology based on Industry 4.0 solutions will allow the portfolio of ultra high-strength steels and premium surfaces to be expanded. Customers can expect significant quality improvements, more flexible slab production and lasting positive effects on their schedule and supply reliability.

Annealing and isolating line

With the start-up of the new annealing and insulating line in January 2025, the modernization of the Bochum site is now largely complete. The modern and energy-efficient system enables the production of electrical sheets up to 0.2 millimetres thick with particularly homogeneous mechanical and magnetic properties. They are specially designed to meet the requirements of highly efficient motors, which are primarily used in electric vehicles. The rolling mill upstream of the annealing and insulating line, a double reversing stand installed on the basis of the latest technology, has already been completed. The two new units will be complemented by a new electrical steel strip inspection line and a finishing line that has now been commissioned to cut the finished sheets and assemble them for customers. The finishing line is scheduled to go into operation in 2027. In future, the new annealing and insulating line will be able to produce up to 200,000 tons of non grain oriented electrical steel per year.