Marcegaglia: your steel partner worldwide

The Tube Exhibition in Dusseldorf represents for Marcegaglia (hall 3 stand D30) the ideal setting to reconfirm its strong investment program. Investments that will consolidate its operations in Italy while, at the same time, launching new plants activities abroad.

“Since 1987, when I joined the company, I firmly sustained our internationalisation policy, strengthening our direct presence in the international markets. We have now a significant presence worldwide and we are planning to invest more into our growth”, explains Antonio Marcegaglia. “In the next four to five years”, continues the group CEO, “we will empower our Italian carbon and stainless steel production sites, investing half of the total amount earmarked for these operations. On the other side, we will strengthen our international activities investing on global markets such as China, Brazil, Russia and Poland, that represent today our production hubs outside Italy”, concludes Antonio Marcegaglia.

These factors confirm Marcegaglia role as the steel partner worldwide.

The carbon steel sector

Steel coil processing is at the core of Marcegaglia activities: the group’s main production hub of flat products in Ravenna has seen the recent addition of new large processing lines, increasing the overall capacity and doubling the production of hot dip galvanized and pre-painted steel.

But also tube manufacturing plants in Italy and abroad have been the focus of major upgrades. Here, within its controlled value chain, Marcegaglia develops the world’s widest range of carbon steel welded tubes, thanks to 150 processing lines and a global manufacturing capacity in excess of 3 million tons per year.

The production program of carbon steel tubes from hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized strip covers a wide range of structural and precision mechanical applications, guaranteeing specific suitability for subsequent processing. Tubes for pressure purposes include applications for the heat exchanger industry, heating and ventilation, gas and water line pipes, chemical industry among others.

Moreover, the certified product range of Marcegaglia cold-drawn welded tubes is manufactured within Europe’s largest specialized plant in Boltiere, as well as in the new Chinese production complex in Yangzhou.

With a dedicated production for the automotive sector, Marcegaglia is the supplier of choice for carmakers and OEM manufacturers of structural parts, components and interior details, thanks to its production plants located near to major specialized districts.

The stainless steel sector

Focusing on the stainless steel sector, Marcegaglia stands out today as the world’s top producer of welded stainless steel tubes. More than 70 state-of-the-art manufacturing lines employ high-frequency, laser, TIG and plasma welding technologies.

“Our production starts with the processing of HR black coils by annealing and pickling process to reach then our cold reducing mills ready for the final products: mainly tubes but also flat bars, round bars and cold formed sections” explains Antonio Marcegaglia.

Today Marcegaglia develops its stainless steel product range (that includes a vast range of both austenitic and ferritic grades as well as duplex and special alloys) in Italy, with 3 plants, in Brazil and in the US, but “we are producing also in Russia, where we have opened a new plant in Vladimir, and in China with large investments in carbon precision tubing and stainless steel pipes” says Antonio Marcegaglia, the group CEO.

In particular in Italy, the plant in Forlì, with more than 250.000 t/year of capacity is the biggest stainless steel welded tube plant in the world. Gazoldo degli Ippoliti is the group headquarters hosting coil cold-rolling, annealing and pickling lines and the service centre dedicated to sheets, strips, flat bars and open profiles. Last, but not least, we can count on Contino plant with its production of stainless steel drawn bright bars.

The manufacturing plant in China spreads over a land of 714,000 square meters located in Guangling Industrial Park, Yangzhou. The first phase of plant development includes 153,000 square meters of covered production area equipped with European manufacturing systems, plus a 4,200 square meters office building. The amount of the investment is estimated in 120 million euro and the production will start in the second half of 2010.

At steady state, the company will employ around 500 people while the output of the plant in the first step will reach 150,000 ton/yr of high quality products such as stainless steel tubes for automotive, decoration, chemical application, but also: heavy wall high tolerance welded tubes for precision mechanical applications, cold drawn (DOM) tubes for applications in automobile, hydraulic and mechanical sectors; refrigeration tubes and components (condensers) for the refrigeration industry.

Marcegaglia Ru (Russia) is also well underway in the project of realising a plant for the manufacturing of stainless steel products in the city of Vladimir, some 180 km East of Moscow. The site is 70,000 square meters wide of which 14,000 are covered. Marcegaglia Ru aims to become the leader in Russia within the stainless steel transformation segment, focusing on the first step in welded tube production and, in a second step, as a large service centre for flats. The initial production will be organized through six welding lines (T.I.G., laser and high frequency) up to 6” outside diameter, one slitting line, one polishing machine and cutting facilities. Production is expected to start in the second quarter of 2010 and the investment to be completed by 2011. Sales of 35,000 tons or 90 million euros are foreseen in 2012, employing around 130-150 people.

“In this regards”, comments Antonio Marcegaglia, “I have sustained our continuous growth in the Italian plants, then also in our facilities abroad because I firmly believe that a modern entrepreneur should export experience, methodology and know-how interacting productively with local competence”, explains Antonio Marcegaglia.

Founded in 1959 and fully owned by the Marcegaglia family, the group is headquartered in Gazoldo degli Ippoliti, Mantova, and is organized into 7 business areas: steel, building, home products, engineering, energy, tourism, services.

Today the group is a worldwide player with 6,500 employees, 51 sales offices, 210 representations and 50 manufacturing plants covering 6 million squared meters, where 5,500 kilometers of carbon and stainless steel products are manufactured every day, serving more than 15,000 customers.