OREANDA-NEWS. SCHMOLZ + BICKENBACH, a global leader in special long steel, announced a major investment in its subsidiary, Swiss Steel, today. At around CHF 49 million, a new walking beam furnace and two new Garrett coilers will be installed at the Emmenbr?cke site in Switzerland. The investment further strengthens the location.

With the investment, Swiss Steel is updating its facilities with state-of-the-art technology, resulting in one of the most modern facilities in the world. The production potential for special steels is increased by around 8%. The new walking beam furnace allows optimal and more efficient heating of the previously produced billets at the desired temperatures, preparing the billet for its further processing in the downstream rolling mill. In addition to a performance increase, this also reduces quality losses and achieves substantial energy and CO2 savings. The new Garrett coilers used to wind the rolled products after they were processed in the rolling mill will allow an increase of ring weight to over 2.2 tons from 1.8 tons currently. Thus, Swiss Steel meets the requirements of the important customer segment of drawing mills.

The commissioning of the plant is planned in stages. The walking beam furnace is expected to go into operation in 2019, the Garrett coilers a year earlier. Full operation is expected for the end of 2020. Of the total investment volume of CHF 49 million, around CHF 11 million originate from federal funds by means of a reimbursement of the "feed-in remuneration at cost" (“Kostendeckende Einspeiseverg?tung”, KEV), a Swiss federal instrument for the promotion of electricity production from renewable energies.

Carlo Mischler, CEO of Swiss Steel, said: "The investment decision is a clear commitment to Swiss Steel and its location Emmenbr?cke. With the new equipment, we are increasing our competitiveness and can serve customers with even better quality and a wider range of products. In addition, we are significantly reducing energy consumption in the rolling mill.”

Clemens Iller, CEO of SCHMOLZ + BICKENBACH: "Swiss Steel is a company with a strong market position and a broad customer base – a valuable part of our Group. The large-scale investment at the Emmenbr?cke site strengthens this first-class positioning and makes it possible to meet the high demands of Swiss Steel's customers in the future."

About SCHMOLZ + BICKENBACH

The SCHMOLZ + BICKENBACH Group is today one of the world's leading providers of individual solutions in the special long steel products sector. The Group is one of the leading manufacturers of tool steel and non-corrosive long steel on the global market and one of the two largest companies in Europe for alloyed and high-alloyed constructional steel. With around 8 900 employees and its own production and distribution companies in 30 countries on 5 continents, the company guarantees global support and supply for its customers and offers them a complete portfolio of production and sales & services around the world. Customers benefit from the company's technological expertise, consistently high product quality around the world as well as detailed knowledge of local markets.