FOCUS ON MATERIALS
Voestalpine production at Linz , Austria .
The Group plans to achieve climate-neutral steel production by the year 2050 using green electricity and green hydrogen . Voestalpine has developed a scalable process that supports
CO 2
-neutral steelmaking without a fossil fuel
Key investment projects
At EUR 612 million , the volume of investments in the business year 2020 / 21 was 21.2 % lower than the previous business year ’ s expenditure of EUR 777 million and thus also fell significantly short of depreciation . However , despite that , voestalpine initiated or pursued several important new projects .
A major new project named “ BETA 3 ” involves a new pickling line launched at its facilities in Linz , Austria . The new “ CC4 ” continuous casting plant , which represents the new core of steel production in Donawitz , Austria , was successfully started up . Both the challenges arising from COVID-19 and delays in deliveries from component suppliers slowed down construction at this advanced special steel plant in Kapfenberg , Austria .
“ From today ’ s vantage point , we expect the plant ’ s construction costs to rise by between 10 % and 20 % compared with the EUR 350 million investment plan . The project is once again proceeding apace , individual steps such as the cold start-up will be accomplished in calendar year 2021 , and the start-up of full operations is slated for the middle of 2022 . Given the boom in online commerce , our storage technology segment benefited from investments in welding and assembly facilities
Greentec steel future .
in Krems , Austria ,” said the company .
Decarbonising steel production poses a major technological challenge for the entire European steel industry . Voestalpine ’ s “ greentec steel ” programme charts a way forward . Assuming that there will be sufficient electricity from renewable energy at economical prices , in a first step the shift from coal-based blast furnace production to electric arc technology is expected to bring about a roughly 30 % reduction in CO 2 by the year 2030 . The Group plans to achieve climateneutral steel production by the year 2050 using green electricity and green hydrogen . Voestalpine has developed a scalable process that supports CO 2
-neutral steelmaking without a fossil fuel , such as coal , and has obtained a patent from the European Patent Office for it . Specifically , this patent comprises the production of hot briquetted iron ( DRI or HBI ) in a direct reduction process by way of green hydrogen and biogas . The Group will grant production licenses for the climate-neutral pre-material .
Outlook for business year 2021 / 22
“ Currently , demand from almost all our important customer segments is high ; in fact , some areas seem to be overheating due to catch-up effects . Even the oil & natural gas industry , which was hit particularly hard by the crisis , is starting to rebound incrementally . The most that can be expected for the aerospace industry , however , is a slight improvement over the business year 2021 / 22 ,” voestalpine told ISMR .
“ Given positive demand , from today ’ s perspective , we may expect the economy on the whole to continue along its upward trajectory at least up to the end of calendar year 2021 . This assessment also follows the forecasts of economic researchers . In addition , the trillions in EU and U . S . economic stimulus packages that aim to kickstart the economy are expected to provide important impetus for growth after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic ,” it added .
But the crisis is not yet over . Despite the availability of effective vaccines against the COVID-19 virus and growing immunisation coverage , it is difficult to predict how the pandemic and its economic consequences will evolve going forward . The voestalpine Group will increasingly focus on value-added growth over and above its measures to boost efficiency and optimise cash flow .
“ Assuming that the current economic momentum continues and that there are no new , unexpected distortions of the market , the Management Board of voestalpine AG expects EBITDA for the business year 2021 / 22 of between EUR 1.6 billion and EUR 1.9 billion ,” commented Herbert Eibensteiner , Chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG .
Voestalpine Railway Systems ( Nuremberg / Ingolstadt .
24 | sheetmetalplus . com | ISMR July / August 2021