Swedish specialty steel producer SSAB has announced that in the coming years it aims to strengthen its position in the home markets, the Nordic countries and North America, as well as deliver on a number of growth initiatives. In this context, SSAB stated that its Special Steels division aims to grow by 35 percent and deliver 1.35 million mt of high-strength steels by 2020, while SSAB Europe aims to improve its product mix to 40 percent of premium products, compared with 30 percent in 2016. As a part of this improvement, SSAB Europe aims to deliver 750,000 mt of automotive premium products by 2020, compared to 442,000 mt in 2016. Meanwhile, SSAB Americas aims for a market share of 30 percent over time in the North American plate market.
SSAB’s CEO Martin Lindqvist stated that the growth ambitions of the company are focused on high-strength steels since demand is growing structurally, driven by its customers’ needs for higher productivity and performance, as well as more sustainable solutions. Mr. Lindqvist added that high-strength steels will support improved profitability as they bring high-added value to customers and hence command a higher margin, compared to standard steels.