50 years of steel production in Lingen: BENTELER’s electric steel mill celebrates anniversary
Lingen (Ems), April 23, 2024. BENTELER Steel/Tube’s electric steel mill in Lingen is celebrating its 50th anniversary this April. Since its commissioning on April 1, 1974 the plant has been synonymous with the circular economy, producing high-quality steel from scrap steel. By using an electric arc furnace and recycling scrap, the site currently produces around 75 percent less CO2 during steel production than steel production using the traditional blast furnace method. The use of renewable energies can further reduce emissions.
Thomas Michels, Chief Operating Officer of BENTELER Steel/Tube, explains: “Our electric steel mill in Lingen is a symbol of our pioneering spirit at BENTELER. 50 years ago we were already relying on our own steel production for our seamless tubes. Today, this investment has become the key to our sustainable production of steel, which we are continuously developing. The key drivers for this are our approximately 280 employees at the site, who develop and implement new ideas with great dedication and commitment.”
Technical modifications and the circular economy are driving sustainability
The electric steel mill has been continuously developed over the past few years with various technical modifications and expansions, particularly in the areas of quality, productivity, capacity, operational safety and sustainability.
“With the continuous modifications to the processes, we have increased the annual production capacity from around 75,000 tons in 1974 to around 650,000 tons today,” explains Thomas Michels. “To produce the electric steel, we use 100% scrap steel, from which new, high-quality steel is produced again and again without any loss of quality. The Lingen site is therefore extremely important for BENTELER and our sustainability efforts. This will remain the case in the future, as Lingen is currently evolving into one of the most important hydrogen centers in Germany and thus offers significant locational advantages.”
CliMore®: Lingen as a key production location
BENTELER Steel/Tube launched its new CliMore® product range in the fall of 2023. This covers all CO2-reduced steels and steel tube products manufactured by the division and categorizes them in three sustainability tiers: Advantage, Ambition and Excellence. “The CO2-reduced steel for all three levels is produced in our electric arc furnace in Lingen,” explains plant manager Andreas Stadtherr. “With our plant in Lingen, we are not only making a decisive contribution to sustainability at BENTELER, we are also supporting our customers on their path towards climate neutrality with our CliMore® products. In order to support our customers’ sustainable transformation in the long term, we are also planning to use green hydrogen or biogenic coal in the future.”
Anniversary celebration and family festival at the site in June 2024
To mark the 50th anniversary, an anniversary celebration will be held on Saturday, June 8, 2024, for employees, customers and guests from politics and business. On Sunday, June 9, 2024, there will be a family celebration for all employees, their partners and children as well as for former employees. Andreas Stadtherr: “The plant in Lingen has shaped a third of BENTELER’s almost 150-year company history. A true success story that we owe in particular to our employees. With the celebrations in June, we want to look back together on the past 50 years and toast to a promising future.”
