Salzgitter AG will further expand its defense portfolio this year, CEO Gunnar Gröbler said during the company’s annual results conference. The company is also seeking tighter EU restrictions on slab imports from Russia.
“We see good potential for our portfolio in renewable energies, especially wind power, but also in defense,” Gröbler said. The German company is already a supplier to the German armed forces and has now set up a “Secure” steel brand and a “Defense” task force to coordinate further activities in this area.
“Geopolitical tensions have imposed new measures to ensure defense capability and are creating new demand for high-security and special steel grades,” the company wrote in its presentation.
“We have a wide range of steels for security purposes and are in talks with a number of suppliers of such components,” Gröbler said during the conference. The market potential study for Secure steels mainly concerns the group's Processing division, which deals with pipes and plates, and its sheet distribution subsidiary Universal.
The company is thus asking the European Union to take tougher measures against slab imports from Russia, which it says have increased in the past year. "It cannot be that we support Russia's war economy," said Grebler. These imports are also processed into sheets in the EU, competing with Salzgitter's portfolio, which is mainly made up of sheet products.
In terms of plate prices, the company has seen a relative stabilization since last autumn after a longer decline. In terms of sections, prices have actually held up quite well through 2024 and this year.
