In a major stride toward future-ready steel manufacturing, Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, subsidiary of German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp Steel, has unveiled cutting-edge production facilities at its Bruckhausen site in Duisburg, Germany. With a €800 million investment - the largest in the company's history - the new infrastructure is set to transform high-strength steel production in Germany, aligning with evolving industry demands and sustainability goals.
Completing around two years of construction and assembly work, the company has commissioned its continuous slab caster No. 4 and hot strip mill No. 4 with two new walking beam furnaces, and fully automated slab logistics. The new units will replace the 20-year-old casting rolling line with the aim of meeting increasing customer expectations and satisfying the highest material requirements in the future.
Looking at the technical details, the hot strip mill No. 4 has an annual capacity of 3.1 million mt and can produce strip with widths of 900-1,600 mm and thicknesses of 1.2-9.0 mm, while continuous casting line No. 4 has an annual capacity of 2.3 million mt of slabs with widths of 900-1,800 mm and thicknesses of 257 mm. The completely newly created slab logistics system, which allows around an annual 1.7 million mt to be synchronized in real time, represents the link between the two units, ensuring maximum flexibility and efficiency in the process flow within the new system network.