Primetals Technologies Limited, is an engineering and plant construction company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with numerous locations worldwide. It serves clients in the metals industry, both the ferrous and the nonferrous metals sector. It was established as a joint venture between Siemens VAI Metals Technologies and Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery in 2015. As of 2020, Primetals Technologies is a joint venture of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and partners.
Overview
Operations
Primetals Technologies operates as a full liner, i.e., a comprehensive supplier for the metals industry. Their portfolio covers all aspects of the iron and steel production process and includes several nonferrous metals technologies, as well as comprehensive metallurgical services. These processes include but are not limited to beneficiation, direct reduction, oxygen steelmaking, electric steelmaking, continuous casting, hot and cold rolling, and processing. They are also active in the digitalization of various aspects of the metals industry, including improvements in automation technologies, services, increasing the use of artificial intelligence, and increasing the use of robotics to improve the safety of iron and steel works.
Green Steel at Primetals Technologies
As of May 2022, the formation of a new global task force titled "Green Steel" was announced to combine the competencies in the metals industry with cross-industrial competencies of the larger Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group. Recognizing the severity of the global climate crisis, the steel industry at large has been recognized as a major contributor of carbon emissions into the atmosphere producing eight percent of global CO2 emissions in 2020. With several environmental technologies in their portfolio, Primetals Technologies is at work to help reduce the carbon footprint of the metals industry.
History
Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery
In May 2000, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi announced the establishment of a broad-based partnership in metals rolling mills. In October 2000, a joint venture company, MHI-Hitachi Metals Machinery, Inc. was established to handle sales and related engineering activities of metal rolling mills and downstream facilities. In 2002, the name was changed to Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery, Inc. In 2004, Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery, Inc. U.S.A. was established.
2006 – Acquisition of New Gencoat, Inc., U.S.A
2006 – MHMM receives contract for supply of pickling line-tandem cold mill from Shougang Jingtang Inc., China 2007 – Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery, Inc., China established 2010 – Start-up of endless billet-welding and rolling mill at POSCO, South Korea 2010 – Founding of Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery South Asia Private Ltd. 2012 – Start-up of No. 2 Hot-Rolling Mill at Usiminas Cubatão, Brazil 2013 – Integration of IHI Metaltech rolling mill business 2013 – Mitsubishi-Hitachi Metals Machinery acquires shares in Concast Ltd., India 2013 – Acquisition of majority shares of Hasegawa Gear Works, Ltd.
Siemens VAI Metals Technologies
1938–1955
VAI, whose parent company was VA Technologie AG, began as the plant building operation of Vereinigte Österreichische Eisen und Stahlwerke (VÖEST) but became a separate operation in 1946. In 1938, the American company H.A. Brassert & Co. began the designs for the Reichswerke in Linz before withdrawing in 1939.
At the end of WWII, Austria was occupied by the allied forces, and due to the air raids during the war, all industrial assets were severely damaged. In July 1945, the "Alpine Montan AG Hermann Göring" plant was renamed to "Vereinigte Österreichische Eisen- und Stahlwerke" (VÖEST) (United Austrian Iron and Steel Plants) and separated from the Alpine Mountain AG. The plant was returned to the newly founded Republic of Austria in July 1946 as part of what would become the ÖIAG (Austrian Industries AG). For the plant's reconstruction, Voestalpine used funding from the Marshall Plan. In 1947 the first blast furnace, a Siemens-Martin open hearth furnace, and first coke ovens started production. In 1948, with the launch of the “Iron and Steel Plan,” which allocated the production of flat steel to Linz and the production of long products to Donawitz. This included the production of finished products in a heavy-plate mill and the construction of a new slab and hot-strip mill in Linz.
