Special Steel Mill

The World’s Most Advanced Steel Mill – BÖHLER

Our brand new, state-of-the-art facility will produce 205,000 tonnes of special steel annually for the international aerospace, oil and natural gas, automotive and tooling industries. This represents a technological milestone in digitalisation and sustainability for the High Performance Metals division of the voestalpine Group.

The new special steel plant, which will replace the existing plant of voestalpine Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG in Kapfenberg, is designed to produce high-quality steels. This could include steel for aircraft components, tools for the automotive industry, equipment for oil and gas extraction and the 3D printing of highly complex, parts. The first plants are already undergoing ‘cold’ testing.

Despite the challenges surrounding the coronavirus, the project progressed. Nevertheless, completion of the project was delayed by more than a year due to delays in the delivery of key equipment. Voestalpine calculates, as previously reported, that due to the difficult framework conditions, costs will increase by around 10% to 20% compared to the initial planned investment of €350 million.

New Standards In Digitisation

Our new plant sets the bar high in terms of digitised production processes. Some 8,000 process data will be continuously recorded, evaluated and used to adjust processes. Due to the high degree of digitalisation, highly trained specialists are needed to control the machines and analyse the data. In our own Digitalisation Competence Centre, our employees gain the necessary qualifications in robotics, sensor technology and data analysis. In total, the new special steel plant creates around 3,000 jobs at the Styrian voestalpine sites in Kapfenberg and Mürzzuschlag.

Sustainable, Future Technologies

There is also a focus on environmentally friendly and resource-efficient steel production. ‘The new special steel plant will set new global benchmarks in terms of sustainability and energy efficiency. This makes this investment an integral part of our overall sustainability strategy,’ Franz Rotter emphasises. ‘At the heart of the plant is the electric arc furnace, which will only operate with electricity generated from renewable sources. By using closed cooling circuits, the amount of cooling water required can be reduced by up to 90%. Moreover, an efficient recovery system ensures that the heat generated during the process is used within the plant and added to the public district heating network.’

Applications such as stamping, bending and cutting tools and injection moulds, for example, will all benefit from the world’s most advanced steel mill. Find out more about our segments by clicking on the links below or contact us.