Steel Processing Business Unit
The Steel Processing Business Unit comprises the steel tube producing companies and the companies with heavy plate activities of the Salzgitter Group.
For 130 years now, the Mannesmann brand stands internationally synonymous with top-quality tubes: In 1885, the brothers Reinhard and Max Mannesmann filed a patent application for the first process for manufacturing seamless steel tubes. Their invention revolutionized piping, machinery and vehicle construction.
Our tubes division offers its customers a wide range of seamless and welded steel tubes - from large-diameter pipes to special stainless steel tubes - and is internationally positioned with plants in Europe and North America. The maintenance and expansion of the pipe infrastructure for natural gas as a bridging technology and hydrogen as a future energy carrier are successfully supported by Mannesmann with the H2-readiness of its pipe materials. Where the use of CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) technologies to capture and store CO2 emissions appears to be a viable option, Mannesmann can additionally offer sustainable solutions. In addition, Mannesmann Präzisrohr is supporting the path to e-mobility in the automotive sector with customer-oriented application development and is consistently expanding its diverse portfolio.
The companies of the line pipe product segment produce pipes for transporting media, primarily oil and gas, and in the future also hydrogen. The main element of this segment is the EUROPIPE Group, a joint venture of Salzgitter AG and the AG of the Dillinger Hüttenwerke. EUROPIPE is the world market leader in longitudinally welded large-diameter pipes in the high-quality segment. Pipes from EUROPIPE Mülheim are used in the world's most technically demanding pipeline projects.
The line pipe product segment also includes the two companies Mannesmann Line Pipe GmbH, located in Hamm and Siegen, and Mannesmann Grossrohr GmbH in Salzgitter. While Mannesmann Grossrohr produces spiral-welded large-diameter pipes with diameters of up to 66 inches, Mannesmann Line Pipe is an international technological leader in the production of HFI (high-frequency inductive) longitudinally welded steel pipes. The line pipes are used in the transport and distribution of gases, oil, water and other media, but also as a structural element in steel construction as well as in mechanical and plant engineering.
The precision tubes product segment is another mainstay: The Mannesmann Precision Tubes Group is the European market leader in seamless and welded tubes with plants in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Mexico. The precision tubes with smaller diameters and extremely high dimensional accuracy are primarily used in the automotive and mechanical engineering sectors as well as in the energy sector, where they are used for example in common-rail injection systems, drive and hydraulic systems, and boiler construction.
The tubes portfolio is rounded off with the seamless stainless steel tubes segment. The Mannesmann Stainless Tubes Group produces seamless stainless steel and nickel-base tubes at its four locations in Germany, France, Italy and the USA. Stainless steel has material-related advantages over normal carbon steel in terms of corrosion and heat resistance, for example. Accordingly, the products of the Mannesmann Stainless Tubes Group are used mainly in power plant construction and in the chemical and petrochemical industries.
With its 30% shareholding in Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann GmbH – a steel works in Duisburg with an annual capacity of more than 4 million tons of crude steel – the business unit has its own starting material supply. Most of the plate and strip required for tube production is supplied by the companies of the Steel Production Business Unit. Only by looking at the entire value chain from iron to pipe we can ensure the consistently high quality, which is an indispensable prerequisite for the realization of our customers' demanding projects and which has been associated with the Mannesmann name for 130 years.
In the area of heavy plate production, alongside its activities as a supplier to traditional heavy plate customers, such as the construction and infrastructure sectors and mechanical engineering, Salzgitter AG has increasingly established itself in recent years as a reliable supplier of heavy plate in green markets, such as for the wind tower industry, thereby making an important contribution to the energy revolution. The aim is to take a strong partner position in the circular economy in the future with green steel for the supply chain in the growth market of wind energy.
The two heavy plate mills Ilsenburger Grobblech GmbH and Salzgitter Mannesmann Grobblech GmbH have a long tradition and produce heavy plate of the highest quality for the most demanding applications, complementing each other ideally in their plant configurations.
Ilsenburger Grobblech GmbH has a theoretical production capacity of around 700,000 tons of heavy plate per year; the input material required for this is supplied mainly by the Group's sister company Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH. It specializes in producing a high number of production lots of small to medium volumes with plate widths of up to 3,500 mm. In addition to standard grades, wear-resistant and sour gas-resistant plate can also be produced.
The commissioning of the new heat treatment line at Ilsenburger Grobblech GmbH in 2021 accelerated qualitative growth also in the heavy plate sector and set new standards for temperature-treated heavy plate. The focus is not only on excellent products and transparent processes, but also on outstanding service levels.
Salzgitter Mannesmann Grobblech GmbH was originally set up as a plate supplier for the neighboring large-diameter pipe production facility of Mannesmannröhren-Werke. Its expertise lies in the production of pipe plate for onshore and offshore pipelines in medium to large batches. With a feasible plate width of up to 4,800 mm, Salzgitter Mannesmann Grobblech GmbH has one of the widest plate mill stands in Europe. The starting material is supplied mainly by Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann GmbH, in which the Salzgitter Group holds a stake.
Like Ilsenburger Grobblech GmbH, Salzgitter Mannesmann Grobblech GmbH focusses on the production of high-quality plate and also in sour gas-resistant grades depending on customer requirements. In addition, Salzgitter Mannesmann Grobblech GmbH operates a pipe bending mill, in which pipe bends for pipelines are produced. Salzgitter Mannesmann Grobblech GmbH is a main supplier of the EUROPIPE Group, a joint venture of the Salzgitter Group and the AG of the Dillinger Hüttenwerke.
