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Decommissioning of the casting and rolling line at thyssenkrupp Steel

From left to right: Andy Rohe (Head of Downstream Operations), Dennis Grimm (Spokesman of the Executive Board), Ali Güzel (Chairman of the Works Council thyssenkrupp Steel), Michael Bössler (Head of GWA)

thyssenkrupp Steel is optimizing production for customer markets of the future and is reaching the finishing line with the conversion of the casting-rolling line at the Duisburg site.

The casting-rolling line, which has been in operation for over 25 years, produced its last coils on October 30, 2024 and was subsequently decommissioned. With this move, thyssenkrupp Steel is pressing ahead with the modernization of its production facilities at the Duisburg site.

The existing casting-rolling line will be divided into a hot strip mill and two continuous casting lines in order to meet the increased requirements of customers. By decoupling casting and rolling, the company can react more flexibly and achieve a better surface quality.

These measures are being implemented two weeks earlier than planned and mark a significant milestone for sustainable and innovative steel production at the Duisburg site. The ramp-up of the new continuous casting line 4 and hot strip mill 4 with two new walking beam furnaces is scheduled to begin in May 2025.

Decommissioning the casting-rolling line and replacing it with new equipment during the conversion work is like open-heart surgery and has far-reaching effects on the entire production network. At the same time, it demonstrates the top performance of the entire team, which ensures that the new systems are completed smoothly and on time.

Focus on customer markets of the future

Dennis Grimm

“As planned, we are continuing to make targeted investments to strengthen our Duisburg site,” explains Dennis Grimm, Spokesman of the Executive Board of thyssenkrupp Steel. “With the fundamentally modernized hot strip mill 4 and the conversion and new construction of continuous casters 3 and 4, we are setting the course for our future viability, especially in terms of efficiency and profitability. By separating and converting our casting-rolling line, we are making our production network more flexible and increasing the availability of our systems. We are thus preparing ourselves for the future requirements of our customers in target markets that are important to us, such as mobility and energy.”

By optimizing the production network, thyssenkrupp Steel is further aligning its product portfolio to future markets and profitable premium products. These include multiphase steels and lightweight steels as well as grades with high surface quality. In addition, the production of high-quality electrical steel grades, which are indispensable for the energy and mobility transition, will be strengthened.

Technical details and innovations

On 2 April 1999, the casting-rolling line produced the first coil and on 20 August 2024 - just over 25 years later - it reached the 40 million tons of steel mark. The material was used, among other things, in the magnetic rails of the Transrapid in Shanghai, which were built entirely from GWA material. In future, thyssenkrupp Steel will continue to produce a large proportion of dynamo and transformer material for NO and GO grades in the new WBW 4. GWA also stands for scalur® - the pickled hot-rolled strip with extremely narrow thickness tolerances, which will also be produced at WBW 4 in the future. In addition, the hot strip mill will take over the high-strength grades from Bochum.

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Contact

thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG

Kaiser-Wilhelm-Strasse 100

47166 Duisburg, Germany

+49 (0)203 52-0

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