Primetals Technologies
| Primetals Technologies Limited
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | Limited |
| founding | 2015 as a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Siemens VAI |
| Seat |
London , UK
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| management | Board:
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| Number of employees | 7000 |
| Branch | metallurgy |
| Website | www.primetals.com |
Primetals Technologies Limited, based in London, (Great Britain) is a company that is active in the field of plant construction for the metal industry. It was created in 2015 as a joint venture through the merger of Siemens VAI Metals Technologies with the Japanese company Mitsubishi Hitachi Metals Machinery (MHMM). MHMM, which is consolidated at MHI , with investments by Hitachi and IHI Corporation , held the majority of 51% and Siemens the remaining 49% of the shares in the joint venture until 2019 . In October 2019 it was announced that Siemens would sell its shares to its partner MHMM. At the moment Primetals Technologies is a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and partners. The main competitors are SMS Siemag and Danieli .
The company employs around 7,000 people worldwide.
Group overview
Primetals Technologies is a leading global plant construction company for the metal industry.
Products:
- Integrated smelting works
- Minimills
- Ore concentrators
- Coking plants
- Sintering and pelletizing plants
- Blast furnaces
- Corex and Finex - Direct Reduction Systems (DRI)
- converter
- Electric arc furnaces
- Plant for stainless steel production
- Secondary metallurgy plants
- Continuous casting plants
- Arvedi ESP systems
- Strip casters
- Rolling mills
- Wire rod mills
- Rail rolling mills
- Tube works
Due to numerous acquisitions, Primetals Technologies' know-how extends across the entire value chain of iron and steel production. The most important invention is still the LD process , according to which more than 70% of steelworks worldwide are operated today. The Corex and Finex processes for the direct reduction of iron are also important.
History Siemens VAI Metals Technologies
1938–1945 founding of the Linz ironworks
The English company Brassert & Co began building the Linz iron and steel works in 1938. After the start of the war in 1939, the planning work was continued by the steelworks department of the Reichswerke Hermann Göring , which in turn passed its agenda on to the Deutsche Bergwerks- und Hüttenbaugesellschaft (DBHG). The originally planned large smelting works was modified to focus on the armaments industry.
1945–1956 reconstruction and the LD process
The Allied air raids from July 1944 caused severe damage to the entire plant, and production had practically come to a standstill at the end of the war. In July 1945 the original “Alpine Montan AG Hermann Göring” was renamed “United Austrian Iron and Steel Works” (VÖEST). For the reconstruction of the plant, some departments were merged to form the so-called "new building department", which had been entrusted with the rebuilding of the Linz iron and steel works. By 1949, the most important elements of the smelting plant could be put back into operation: coking plant, blast furnaces, steel works (works with a Siemens-Martin furnace , named after the inventors) and heavy-plate mill (works for the production of sheet metal with a thickness of over 3 mm). Since many of the products produced were in short supply in the post-war economy, the iron and steel works recovered relatively quickly and invested heavily in expanding its facilities. The annual steelworks capacity of 220,000 tons soon proved to be inadequate due to the lack of steel scrap, which was required for the operation of the SM furnaces that were common at the time. A new processing method proved to be the solution: the Linz-Donawitz process developed in - house (LD process, commissioned in 1952 in Linz and 1953 in Donawitz). It convinced through cost savings (only around 65% of the investment costs and 55% of the operating costs of an SM oven) and greater production capacity.
1956–1961 rise to industrial plant construction
The invention of the LD process and the experience gained in the complete reconstruction of the company's own systems led to the first major external order in industrial plant construction in Rourkela, India, in 1956. Its success prompted numerous iron and steel works on almost every continent to commission VÖEST with the construction of factories. Industrial plant construction in the steelworks sector was increasingly expanded to include the hot and cold rolling sector as well as the construction of blast furnaces and ancillary plants for smelting works such as slag processing plants and dolomite stone factories.
1961–1974 growth and boom
With the growing number of tasks, the new building department had to be converted into an "industrial building factory extension", the task of which was to work on turnkey projects. In 1964, VÖEST expanded its portfolio with chemical plant construction; just two years later, its share of sales was more than two thirds of total sales. Another milestone was the introduction of continuous casting technology for the manufacture of slabs in 1967. Many ongoing orders and the constant expansion of the company's own facilities prompted VÖEST to increase its crude steel production from 2.3 to 3.1 million tons per year.
1974–1985 steel crisis and restructuring
As a result of the oil crisis from 1974 onwards, steel prices fell, which also had an impact on plant construction. Nevertheless, the technology area (industrial plant construction and final industry) developed into an increasingly important pillar of the company in the years to come. In 1973, the turnover share of the hut was 80%, while the share of the final and plant construction area in 1976 already made up 45%. The company found itself in constant restructuring processes, reorientations and won the most extensive projects to date. At the beginning of the 1980s, chemical plant construction took the first steps in the direction of biotechnology, which in 1986 led to the establishment of a biomass utilization technology center in Linz. The chemical plant construction department made further adjustments through various environmental protection facilities. The acquisition of Korf Engineering GesmbH as a 100% subsidiary should prove to be a particularly important step, as this included the rights to the COREX process. The continued high order situation alleviated the losses caused by the ongoing steel crisis, which in 1985 assumed threatening proportions. In addition, strong political influence had been exerted on the nationalized company to secure jobs in previous years. The company, which had grown into a conglomerate, suffered a record loss of ATS 25 billion in 1984 (see Intertrading scandal ).
1985–1995 split and renewed upturn
In autumn 1986 the VOEST-ALPINE NEW concept was introduced, according to which the company represents a technology group based on the knowledge accumulated in the core area of steel. The aim was to lead the company out of the red. In the field of plant construction, efforts were made to expand existing strengths in terms of quality and technology, and creative projects by employees were encouraged. For example, COREX, horizontal continuous casting and strip casting technology were improved, converter and electric furnace processes were further developed and the electric arc furnace was introduced. In 1988, VOEST-ALPINE Industrieanlagenbau (VAI) finally became its own limited liability company within the framework of the newly founded Maschinen- und Anlagenbauholding AG under the umbrella company ÖIAG.
1995-2005 VA Tech
In 1995 VAI was spun off from voestalpine AG and became a 100% subsidiary of VA Technologie AG ( VA Tech for short ), which was then newly founded . VA Tech, in turn, emerged from the conglomerate Austrian Industries .
2005–2014 Siemens VAI
In 2005 Siemens bought VA Tech and incorporated VAI as Siemens VAI Metals Technologies into the Siemens group. In May 2014, Siemens announced that VAI would be separated from the group and incorporated into a joint venture with Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery. Due to the crisis in the steel industry and an adjustment of the strategic direction, the business was no longer considered a core competence.
History Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery
At the same time as Voestalpine was split up, the Japanese business developed:
- 1984: First installation at Nippon Steel in Japan
- 1990: First delivery to South Korea for POSCO
- 2000: Foundation of the joint venture with Hitachi
- 2004: Subsidiary in the USA with subsequent acquisition of New Gencoat, Inc.
- 2006: First delivery to China with subsequent establishment of a subsidiary
- 2010: Joint technology development with Hitachi and POSCO; Foundation of a South Asia subsidiary
- 2012: Entry into the Brazilian market
- 2013: Acquisition of IHI Metaltech, Concast Ltd. ( India ) and Hasegawa Gear Works Ltd.
Since 2015 Primetals Technologies
MHI consolidated the joint venture in its group reporting. Siemens VAI held a minority of 49%, which was recorded as a stake in the balance sheet. The new group has the clear aim of taking over and defending market leadership. A strength is emphasized that the German-Japanese group not only supplies complete systems, but also automation technology, energy management solutions and financing services.
For the December quarter of 2015, MHI reports good business development at Primetals Technologies with synergies from the integration.
Primetals Technologies is now a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and partners. The company employs around 7,000 people worldwide. 1,600 of them work in Linz.