A STRONG PARTNERSHIP The Feralpi Group, one of the leading iron and steel producers in Europe, has recently widened its commercial offer thanks to the acquisition of the Caleotto rolling mill in partnership with Duferco. Barbara Rossi reports.
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he main business of the group – which is headquartered in Lonato del Garda, on the south-west shore of lake Garda in northern Italy – is the production of construction steel, mainly reinforced steel in bars and wire rod as well as electro-welded mesh. It is also active in cold work steel, metal carpentry, environment and fishing, as well as financial activities and investment management. This diversified organisation operates on an international scale and employs over 1300 permanent staff across Italy, Europe and Algeria. It has been present in Germany since 1992 and today also operates in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, where other production facilities are located, as well as in the previously mentioned Algeria. Here the group has been active since 2013, thanks to the acquisition of Feralpi Algerie, which was incorporated in order to better oversee the fast-growing market in steel consumption, both in Algeria and, more generally, throughout North Africa. The Feralpi Group’s steel output is in the region of two million tonnes per year. Steel is produced at the steelworks located in Italy (in Lonato del Garda and Calvisano, in the Brescia area) and Germany (in Riesa, Saxony). The group’s mission is to produce the best steel for the construction industry in the most sustainable way possible; in 228 Industry Europe
other words, reducing fuel consumption and emissions by the use of the best available technology, or by patenting new technologies thanks to an intense internal process of innovation and research. Feralpi uses scrap iron melted in electricarc furnaces to make steel billets, the intermediate product used by the group mainly for the production of steel for construction purposes. Since 2014, its production has also included special steels. The product range is extensive and includes lattice girders, spacer bars and shaped elements.
Group structure The main company within the group is Feralpi Siderurgica, but two other important Italian-based operations are Acciaierie di Calvisano and Nuova DE.F.IM. Acciaierie di Calvisano mainly produces common, quality and special steel billets. Nuova DE.F.IM specialises in making electro-welded mesh for buildings, and fencing and gates for professional, industrial and private use. As mentioned above, since the 1990s the group has been undergoing a process of internationalisation and investing in areas with a strong steel-making tradition. This has led to the establishment of the Feralpi Stahl brand, which today comprises the European leaders ESF Elbe–Stahlwerke Feralpi GmbH
and EDF Elbe-Drahtwerke Feralpi GmbH in Germany, Feralpi Praha sro in the Czech Republic, and Feralpi Hungaria KFT in Hungary; plus the trading company Feralpi Stahlhandel GmbH and the shipping company Feralpi Logistik GmbH. Moreover, Feralpi also includes S.C. Beta SA, which is located 110 kilometres north-east of Bucharest, Romania and whose core activity is the production of machines and equipment for the chemical and petrochemical industries, refineries, cement works and metal working factories. Recently the Feralpi Group has drafted a partnership agreement with Duferco for the acquisition of the Caleotto rolling mill, formerly part of the Lucchini group, and situated near Lecco, northern Italy. Caleotto and Duferco already work in partnership in the MediaSteel company, which commercialises iron scrap. Now the two companies also have a production partnership. Thanks to this enterprise, Duferco and Feralpi intend to develop other possible synergies for some products, both for improving the internal production cycle and for implementing other possible future acquisitions. At the Caleotto plant the two companies will roll steel billets manufactured by the two groups in the San Zeno Naviglio and Calvisano steel plants respectively. These two facilities are both based in the Brescia area. Thanks to
