Salzgitter: The new armaments’ fantasy of the troubled metal builder | EUROtoday

The Salzgitter metal firm is more and more pushing into the armor space. “This is a good and profitable business that we can and will expand,” mentioned CEO Gunnar Groebler when submitting the annual steadiness. Geopolitical tensions would set new requirements to protection capability. “The need for steel, safety steel and special goods increases.” And as a result of, in response to the European Union (EU), native suppliers ought to come into play, Salzgitter has good possibilities.

The group from the town of the identical title in Lower Saxony is already a provider for the armaments trade, however the firm is silent about concrete portions. Groebler speaks of a “reserved business”. That ought to change. For this goal, Salzgitter has now based a “Task Force Defense”, which is meant to coordinate actions throughout the group and make gives for trade. For instance, it’s about pipes for firearms or shot -resistant coarse plates for automobiles to guard the passengers within the occasion of conflict. The corresponding security metal collection of the Salzgitter subsidiary Ilsenburger Grobblech is named “Secure”.

Brand rights and product designations for Secure in addition to the related manufacturing know-how as soon as took over from competitor Thyssenkrupp. Unlike Salzgitter, Germany’s largest metal producer doesn’t give attention to new armaments outlets, at the very least not past frigates and submarines that the Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems space builds. The portions within the space of ​​safety metal aren’t massive sufficient, mentioned Thyssenkrupp metal boss Dennis Grimm just lately on the “Future steel” trade convention. “For us as a company, this is not an impulse to invest accordingly.”

Different at Salzgitter. Talks with the Bundeswehr, for instance, are already underway, says Groebler. “We try to get further approvals.” This requires so-called TL certifications, TL stands for “technical delivery conditions”. However, this requires persistence, as Groebler stories. “There is still a certain asynchronicity between the speed at which politics drives the topic of defense, and the speed at which the corresponding administrations create the necessary conditions, for example how quickly releases are issued.”

Groebler now hopes that the current resolutions of the Bundestag and the Federal Council will act extra accelerated to a particular fund of a number of hundred billion euros for investments in nationwide protection and infrastructure. In any case, the supervisor guarantees good enterprise by way of the additional cash, additionally past the subject of armor. Salzgitter can take part, for instance, when constructing bridges, within the upgrading of the Deutsche Bahn and its rail community or constructing a line community for hydrogen.

The infrastructure billions may show to be the financial bundle for Germany normally and for the metal trade particularly, in response to hope. “However, the special fund has to arrive quickly in industry,” warns Groebler. And on the similar time, it shouldn’t cowl needed structural reforms, for instance within the areas of taxes, social methods and paperwork.

Salzgitter needs to additional tighten austerity course

Salzgitter is at the moment affected by the weak economic system, low metal costs with excessive vitality prices and low cost imports from third nations. “There is a lack of trust in companies with a view to investment decisions,” stories the group that’s listed within the S-DAX. And the event in crucial patrons continues to be characterised by excessive uncertainty and weak dynamics. In 2024, gross sales fell by 800 million to 10 billion euros, the underside line was that there was a lack of nearly 350 million euros, however influenced worth corrections, provisions and restructuring prices.

The austerity course, which is already taken, is subsequently additional exacerbated, publicizes Fastrian Birgit Potrafki. Instead of the 250 million euros focused thus far, 500 million euros are actually to be achieved, particularly by way of changes in buying in addition to in logistics and gross sales. And investments would even be checked whether or not they’re crucial or not. A job cuts are additionally accompanied. “If you raise efficiency advantages, this also has an effect on jobs in the end,” admits CEO Groebler.

There needs to be no cuts in constructing inexperienced metal manufacturing. The present renovation program might be carried out as deliberate, the manufacturing of the low of the CO₂ metal beneath the “Salcos” model throughout the subsequent 18 months. “We don’t shake that.” The financing can also be secured. In the undertaking, which prices round 2.3 billion euros, the basic blast furnace route with coke and coal is changed by a so -called direct discount system, which is ideally operated with inexperienced hydrogen.

Carsten Dierig is an financial editor in Düsseldorf. He stories on commerce and shopper items, mechanical engineering and the metal trade in addition to recycling and medium -sized corporations.