Strength in many shapes and sizes IRO

STRENGTH IN MANY SHAPES AND SIZES

The core business of IRO (Industrie Riunite Odolesi) SpA is the production of reinforcing bars, but for some years now the company has also been diversifying its activities into manufacturing niche products and billets. Barbara Rossi reports.

IRO SpA has more than 60 years of experience, having been established in Odolo (Brescia) in 1951, as a rolling mill for the production of reinforcing bars. The company further developed its activities over the years, with the installation – in the 1960s – of the first electric furnace for scrap melting and the introduction of one of the first continuous casting lines for billet manufacturing. This was followed in the 1970s by the installation of a new rolling mill and a new continuous casting machine, always with the aim of increasing production and improving product quality. In the 1990s there was another quality leap, thanks to the inclusion of the Tempcore system, for product welding and ductility, into the manufacturing process. Furthermore, the year 1991 saw the company obtaining the UNI EN ISO 9001 certification, followed by the UNI EN ISO 14001 environmental benchmark in 2005. In 2010 the company obtained OHSAS 18001 certification.

In 2004, together with other companies within its sector, IRO participated in the establishment of SISMIC, a technical association whose aim is the promotion of earthquake-proof steel, through R&D work covering the entire reinforced concrete production chain.

A few years ago IRO made investments totalling €12 million into the construction of a new continuous casting line, thanks to which it has widened the dimensional range of its billets up to 180mm x 180mm. Another result of this investment is that the company can now manufacture quality steels, an area into which it is trying to expand in order to counterbalance the dip in demand for reinforcing bars.

Following the diversification route

Nowadays about 70–75 per cent of the company’s turnover derives from the sales of finished products, in other words bars. 80 per cent of this is generated by reinforcing bars, which remains the company’s main activity. The remainder derives from the previously mentioned niche products – mainly in the form of smooth bars for various uses. Smooth bars are supplied to a wider range of sectors, including the mechanics, prefabrication and moulding industries.

IRO’s billets are a semi-product, not a finished product like bars. 25–30 per cent of its turnover is currently derived from these products, which are then converted by other rolling mills or moulders. The type of steel employed in the IRO billets varies according to the final application.

IRO also owns an 80 per cent share of Nova P.M Sider, a preforming company based in Bologna and engaged in customising reinforcing bars in order to meet the design specifications of architects in charge of large construction projects. This is an activity

which, until 20 or 30 years ago, companies used to carry out internally. In recent years, owing to cost optimisation, this work has increasingly been outsourced. About 5 per cent of the reinforcing bars that IRO produces are for Nova P.M Sider, while the rest are sold to other processing plants which also carry out pre-forming.

Export challenges

When it comes to foreign sales, in particular those to non-European countries, IRO supplies large local distributors, which then resell its products. In terms of reinforcing bars the export share has significantly increased in recent years; today it almost reaches 50 per cent, whilst 20 years ago it was about 15–20 per cent. This increase in export sales is mainly down to the crisis which has hit the construction sector in Europe, and particularly in Italy, causing a reduction of the volumes supplied to these geographical areas. This reduction took place a few years ago, but in the past four or five years volumes have stabilised. In this framework the level of overall product volumes has remain unchanged, but the foreign market has acquired an increasingly greater importance and IRO’s international share has grown in comparison to the total.

The crisis within the European construction sector is what made the company take the decision to differentiate its activities both in terms of reaching new geographical markets and moving into new market segments – the latter of which it achieved with the development of quality steel production and with the widening of the dimensional range of billets. Its smooth bars and billets are mainly sold in Italy. In terms of its traditional product and core business, which is reinforcing bars, the main differentiation has taken place in terms of geographical markets. Algeria is the main export market, thanks to the significant growth of this country’s economy and the fact that other areas around the Mediterranean basin are experiencing particular political challenges. Clearly IRO is also still exporting throughout Europe, in places such as France, Switzerland, Germany, Croatia, Slovenia and other nearby countries. It will continue its diversification process and reinforcing bars will remain its main product. Geographically the company is always looking for new markets which, owing to the nature of reinforcing bars and to the bearing of transport costs on the final price of this product, must be in areas close to its headquarters.

A recent important development has been the expansion of its production of smooth round bars so as to include new diameters (34/36/38/40 mm). These products comply with EN10025 European regulations and are EC certified according to construction product requirements for quality categories S275JR, S275JO, S355JR and S355JO. Dimensionally, these products comply with the requirements listed in chart 1 of the EN10060 regulations. n

We have been recovering new raw materials from waste since 1985, managing the complete waste cycle and fully respecting the environment. Today we can rightfully consider ourselves one of the main multi-functional platforms in Europe for the treatment and recovery of special hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Our Environmental Integrated Authorisation valid for 620,000 Tonnes/ year was granted in 2014.

We treat the following materials: End of life vehicles and engines, ferrous and non-ferrous metallic materials resulting from mechanical selection and sorting (e.g. scrap from motorized vehicles and scrap in general), other materials containing metallic fractions; materials containing metals resulting from urban waste sorting operations; inert material resulting from recovery operations carried out on soils and stones, other materials resulting from remediation activities of polluted lands and waste containing fractions similar to sands or stones, inert materials suitable for the productions of goods to be employed in the construction business; waste-to-energy bottom ashes; other materials containing exploitable fractions.

The incoming materials are treated through the use of screening operations, mechanical separation of ferrous and non-ferrous metals through magnets and/or magnetic belts , eddy currents motors and manual sorting.

Our output materials are mainly the following: ferrous and non-ferrous materials classifi ed as “end of waste” or secondary raw material in compliance with the regulations in force; ferrous, non-ferrous and mixed metals; inert fractions of different kinds and sizes; wood, plastic rubber, glass.

RMB’s main objective is to recover all exploitable fractions contained in waste, particularly metals: fl oated aluminium, aluminium grain, aluminium cans, aluminium radiators, heavy mixed metals, heavy mixed granulated metals, copper wires, copper, armatures, “proler” iron , iron, stainless steel.

RMB’s mission is to improve its industrial processing in order to widen the range of those exploitable fractions aimed at becoming alternative sources to the raw natural materials and at the same time to reduce the landfi ll disposal in accordance with the European directives concerning this sector.

The international recognition of our exemplary activity, already included in our Integrated Quality System, is testifi ed by the achievement of the most prestigious certifi cates and by the inclusion of our company in the WHITE LIST.

Our strong vocation to improvement is also supported by the adoption of the Organisation, Management and Control Model according to D.L. 231/2001 and it is granted by the constant presence of the supervisory authorities.

R.M.B. S.p.A. Via Montecanale,3 | 25080 Polpenazze del Garda (BS) Tel: +39 0365 675344 | www.rmbspa.com