Stainless Steel World Magazine December 2024 | Page 9

[ Cover Story ]

[ Cover Story ]

18 months of expansion
November 2022 – Walsin Lihwa Corp becomes a 70 % shareholder in Cogne Acciai Speciali ( CAS ) August 2023 – CAS acquires the Degerfors and Storfors facilities of Outokumpu Long Products AB September 2023 – CAS acquires Special Melted Products , UK May 2024 – CAS acquires 65 % of Com . Steel Inox S . p . A October 2024 – CAS completes acquisition of Mannesmann Stainless Tubes along with its subsidiaries and operational facilities in Germany , France , Italy and the US , bringing the revenue of the Aosta-based steel mill to 2 billion euros and expanding the workforce to 3,100 . The company is relaunched as DMV .
In May 2024 , CAS bought 65 % of Com . Steel Inox , the second largest scrap dealer in Italy . “ This move secured the Group ’ s future needs for scrap while allowing us to process and integrate scrap generated in our newly acquired companies in Sweden and the UK ,” continues Mr Burelli . The most recent acquisition by CAS was that of Mannesmann Stainless Tubes ( MST ), which was finalised in October 2024 . “ This was an exciting acquisition because the tube market is new for us . It also meant we purchased a customer because CAS has supplied materials to MST for many years .” “ All of these acquisitions have strengthened our position by vertically integrating our operations in a multitude of ways and opening up new markets . One of our priorities was to increase our production output at the CAS Aosta plant in Italy significantly . At the start of this journey , we had some 30 % of free capacity at Aosta ; now it ’ s being filled up with the supply to Degerfors , SMP and MST .” “ It ’ s an exciting journey , and our teams have worked together fantastically to facilitate a lot of changes . An incredible amount has been achieved in a short time , and this was only possible because we have some very inspired shareholders who gave us the freedom to make proposals and make focused decisions very quickly .”
Improved competitiveness Mariano Pizzorno , Executive Chairman of DMV GmbH , takes up the story . “ DMV is back — strong , more competitive and a rewarding place to work . The new company moves forward with significant strategic advantages , including healthy financial support by our shareholders , upstream verticalization to secure availability and cost competitive supply of strategic raw materials , a sound brand , strong product portfolio , team knowledge and product quality .” “ Our core strategic pillars are :
• Health & safety
• Low-cost operations strategy
• Technology
• Carbon footprint
“ We are already moving in that direction . Over the next several months , we will focus on improving our competitiveness by operating a lean manufacturing and supply chain process with strong ESG and sustainability by leveraging technology and increasing digitalization to holistically develop innovative R & D and manufacturing down-costing . We can and will accomplish it . The people who will lead that charge are , for the most part , already at DMV . We plan to bring that same drive and commitment to innovation to DMV as we look to make it one of the leading companies again in our industry .”
Iconic brands Emilio Giacomazzi , DMV Managing Director , continues . “ The relaunch of MST as DMV is a historical moment as the creation of the original company in 1994 represented one of the best partnerships in the history of special steelmaking in the past century . Uniting DMV and Cogne now combines two iconic brands for seamless tubes and brings a sense of continuity . It was an obvious integration to combine a historical producer of seamless tubes with a steel mill to strengthen our presence in the market . It ’ s also a wonderful opportunity to integrate our production output because we have all the technology required to supply the vast majority of the range of steels DMV needs , from austenitic , super austenitic and super duplex to nickel alloys . The acquisition also integrates the ranges produced by Degerfors and SMP . This has produced an exceptionally strong team more than capable of successfully competing in an increasingly demanding market .” “ Across the Cogne Group , we have strong environmental , social and governance ( ESG ) guidelines and a sustainability agenda . We will continue to focus on the core pillars of health and safety first , then low-cost operations . These will receive a huge impulse with the amalgamation of the skilled people , knowledge and facilities that this acquisition brings .”
Historical name
The name DMV originated in 1994 following the amalgamation of the stainless steel divisions of the Dalmine Group ( Italy ), Mannesmann Group ( Germany ) and Vallourec Group ( France ) under the name DMV Stainless . The DMV name ceased to be used in 2008 .
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