Products and solutions Aug 23, 2007 10:00 AM
ThyssenKrupp Titanium increases melting capacity at Essen site
To strengthen its titanium business, ThyssenKrupp Stainless AG (Duisburg) is investing around 30 million euros in various measures aimed at expanding production at the Essen, Germany site of ThyssenKrupp Titanium. A further vacuum arc furnace was recently installed to significantly increase melting capacity for titanium ingots. In addition, a highly innovative electron beam furnace is currently being installed in a dedicated new on-site shop. “These measures will enable us to participate actively in the growth of the titanium market and will secure us an outstanding position in business with customers from the highly attractive aerospace and plant construction sectors,” says Jürgen Fechter, Executive Board Chairman of ThyssenKrupp Stainless.
These expansion projects at ThyssenKrupp Titanium, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Stainless, are intended to meet rising global demand for titanium products and guarantee supplies to its customers. Thanks to its low weight, excellent corrosion resistance and high strength, demand for titanium is high. It is mainly used in the aerospace and chemical plant construction sectors, heat exchangers for power plants, seawater desalination plants, shipbuilding, offshore equipment and medical engineering.
The two new furnaces will significantly expand melting capacities at the Essen plant. The vacuum arc furnace commenced operation at the end of last year. The electron beam furnace currently under construction, which will offer state-of-the-art titanium melting technology, is planned to start production in early 2008.
ThyssenKrupp Titanium’s Essen plant mainly produces titanium ingots as well as long products and alloyed plate for the aerospace and medical engineering industries. The ingots are supplied to the company’s Terni, Italy site for processing into flat products such as sheet, coil and welded tubes for industrial applications. The Terni plant has approximately 130 employees. The headcount at the Essen site has doubled in recent years to around 140. In fiscal 2005/2006, the Titanium group generated sales of some 110 million euros. “Given the sustained strong demand, we expect a significant increase in sales in the current fiscal year,” says Dr. Markus Holz, Managing Director of ThyssenKrupp Titanium.