“This ... investment evidences the clear commitment of the Salzgitter Group to heavy plate production in Ilsenburg and proves that, with us, restructuring and future-proofing go hand in hand,” said Salzgitter chief executive Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann in a statement.  

The line will consist of two roller hearth furnaces, a MultiFlex-Quench leveling machine, a blasting facility, a preservation line and a water treatment system. Commissioning is scheduled for the spring of 2020. 

The line is being designed to process more than 200,000 metric tons of heavy plate annually. It will be capable of treating plate in thicknesses between 5 mm and 175 mm and in widths between 600 mm and 3,500 mm.