voestalpine begins construction of advanced special steel plant in Austria
April 25, 2018
The ground-breaking ceremony marked the official start of construction at voestalpine’s special steel plant in Austria
A recent ground-breaking ceremony has marked the official start of a three-year construction phase for the new €350 million voestalpine special steel plant in Kapfenberg, Austria. From 2021 onwards, the plant will produce around 205,000 tons of high-performance steels a year.
Once operational, the new high-tech special steel plant is intended to replace the existing voestalpine Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG plant in Kapfenberg and is designed to produce premium quality pre-materials for aircraft components, tools for the automotive industry, equipment for oil & gas extraction, and for the Additive Manufacturing of highly complex metal parts.
“Today’s ground-breaking ceremony for the new plant is not only a milestone for our Group, and Kapfenberg as a location, but also a positive signal for European industry, as this is the first investment in a completely new steel plant in decades,” stated Wolfgang Eder, Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG.
voestalpine’s High Performance Metals Division is the global market leader for tool steel and a leading provider of high-speed steel, valve steel, and other products made of special steels, as well as powder materials, nickel-based alloys, and titanium. It is focused on producing and processing high-performance materials and customer-specific services including heat treatment, high-tech surface treatments, and Additive Manufacturing processes.
A rendering of the new facility intended to replace the existing voestalpine Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG plant
“This investment provides voestalpine with a global technological lead and cost advantage in manufacturing high-performance steels, and allows us to remain globally competitive over the long term, even when producing at a traditional European location,” added Eder
In the business year 2016/17, the High Performance Metals Division division reported revenue of around €2.7 billion and an operating result (EBITDA) of EUR 395 million. The division has around 13,700 employees worldwide. In total, during business year 2016/17, the voestalpine Group generated revenue of €11.3 billion and an operating result (EBITDA) of €1.54 billion with around 50,000 employees worldwide.
