Salzgitter Awards Contract for New Electric Arc Furnace at HKM Duisburg

Salzgitter AG has initiated a significant transformation at its Duisburg steel production site by awarding a contract for a new electric arc furnace.

Hüttenwerke Krupp-Mannesmann GmbH (HKM), recently fully acquired by Salzgitter, has signed an agreement with Tenova for the engineering, delivery, installation, and commissioning of the furnace and related auxiliary facilities.

The new furnace, with a tapping weight of 285 metric tons and a capacity of up to 2.5 million metric tons annually, will become Germany's largest and the European Union's second-largest electric arc furnace. The planned annual production target is approximately 2 million metric tons. The project is supported by €200 million in funding from the German federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Implementation is scheduled to begin in August 2026, with completion expected in 2029. The technology enables continuous scrap feeding and improved energy efficiency by utilizing exhaust heat. It will also process a flexible mix of raw materials, including steel scrap and direct reduced iron.

Gunnar Groebler, Chairman of the Executive Board of Salzgitter AG, emphasized that the new furnace integrates HKM directly into the group's low-carbon steel production strategy, strengthening its position as a supplier of "green steel." The new furnace is described as one of the most significant transformation initiatives in the European steel industry.