About SSAB AB (publ)
SSAB AB (publ) produces and sells steel products in Sweden. Businesses and Divisions The company is structured across three steel divisions: SSAB Special Steels, SSAB Europe (SSAB Europe Oy), and SSAB Americas (SSAB Americas Holding AB); and two subsidiaries, such as Tibnor and Ruukki Construction. SSAB Special Steels division SSAB Special Steels is a primary developer and manufacturer of wear, structural, protection and tool steels. SSAB Special Steels serves approximately 130 countries. This division’s product portfolio includes various steel grades. The business model allows for collaboration with large OEMs, as well as with smaller and mid-sized customers through a global organization, which includes local stocks, technical customer support, engineering and processing services. Products and Services SSAB Special Steels is responsible for the company’s quenched and tempered steels and hot-rolled advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) with yield strengths from 690 MPa and above. This steel could be further classified into high-strength structural steels, wear-resistant steels, protection steels and tool steels. Brands and Products HARDOX is the major brand of wear steels. It offers a combination of hardness and toughness, which in turn enables lighter, durable structures for increased payload and longer service life. STRENX is the company’s high-strength structural steel product brand. Its high strength combined with good impact toughness and forming properties enables light structures for increased payload. RAEX is a distributor brand for wear steel designed to meet standard demands on the market. TOOLOX is a prehardened tool steel available as plate and bars. ARMOX and RAMOR are protection plate with properties designed primarily for the protection of life and property. SSAB Services As a business, SSAB Services focuses on providing services to heavy transport machine builders and the after-market business. SSAB Services is reported as part of SSAB Special Steels and intends to develop the Hardox WearParts network and to facilitate the usage of high-strength steels by further promoting the SSAB Shape concept. HARDOX WEARPARTS is a network of companies for the production of wear parts and justin- time repair services to end-users. The company’s network is represented across approximately 80 countries and consists of approximately 360 companies, 16 of which the company has an ownership interest in. Hardox Wearparts provide spare parts and advice to the local aftermarket in the mining, quarrying, infrastructure, construction, steel, agriculture and recycling sectors. SSAB SHAPE combines the company’s premium steel products with engineering and processing services offered through its own Shape centers and an independent worldwide network of plate processing suppliers. This is how the company facilitates the use of AHSS to its end-users. Customers and End-Users SSAB Special Steels customers represent both the end-user and machine construction sectors in branches, such as materials handling, heavy transport and all forms of lifting. Examples of applications for special steels include high-strength structural steels, such as mobile cranes (booms, chassis and support legs), truck-mounted cranes, aerial work platforms, chassis for trailers and trucks, agricultural machinery, and offshore (selected components, such as jack-up rigs); wear steels, such as dumper bodies for both off-road and on-road use, buckets, containers, stationary mining equipment (such as crushers), recycling equipment, and wear parts to various segments and applications; protection steels, such as vehicles for safe transportation of people and valuables, and protection for buildings and counters; and tool steels, such as molds, tool holders, and axles. Main customer segments and applications include heavy transport (bodies and trailers), construction machinery (dumpers, loaders and cranes), material handling (crushers, buckets and conveyors), agricultural and forest machines (cranes, grabs and soil cultivation equipment), and workshops for the manufacture of spare parts. Strategy SSAB Special Steels intends to be the global leader in wear, structural, protection and tool steels, as well as in related value-added services. SSAB Special Steels’ strategic priorities include focusing on safety in all parts of the division; maintaining position as innovation leader with unique product and service portfolio; expanding the Hardox Wearparts network and SSAB Shape concept; working with potential and existing customers to upgrade to high-strength steels; accelerating growth by upgrading in new segments and new markets; and improving the high-strength bars and tubes business. Competition This division competes with international steel product manufacturers, such as Dillinger Hütte, NLMK Clabecq, Voestalpine, ArcelorMittal, ThyssenKrupp, Tata Steel Europe, JFE, and Nucor. SSAB Europe division This division operates as a Nordic-based steel producer of strip, plate and tube products. SSAB Europe’s processing centers tailor products to customer needs. SSAB Europe’s focus is on the Nordic home market, along with selective growth areas, such as high-strength steels to the automotive industry worldwide. SSAB Europe’s main production sites are located in Raahe and Hämeenlinna (Finland), and in Luleå and Borlänge (Sweden). Production is based on integrated blast furnace processes. SSAB Europe’s steel mills have an annual production capacity of 4.9 million tonnes. Other production sites include the color-coating lines in Finspång (Sweden) and Kankaanpää (Finland). This division also has tube production in Hämeenlinna, Lappohja, Oulainen, Pulkkila and Toijala (Finland), as well as processing sites in the Netherlands, Norway, Italy, Russia, Poland, Sweden and the U.K. Products and Services SSAB Europe has a product offering through internationally known product brands. Yield strength classes of hot-rolled products up to, but excluding, 690 MPa. (steel grades of 690 MPa and above in hot-rolled products come under SSAB Special Steels’ product offering.). Cold-rolled and galvanized products are available in tensile strengths ranging from 200 to 1,700 MPa. SSAB Europe’s product offering also includes customized products for various uses from mild deep drawing steel to ultra-high-strength steels. In addition, SSAB Europe could provide primary color-coated products designed for specific needs based on different coating systems and various specially-developed base steel grades. Premium products include a range of branded products that offer enhanced value to customers through tighter tolerances, improved material properties and refined composition – such as GreenCoat products, Docol automotive steels or SSAB Laser. SSAB Europe’s branded products include Docol, GreenCoat, SSAB Boron, SSAB Domex, SSAB Form, SSAB Laser, and SSAB Weathering. The range of products includes hot-rolled plate products, hot-rolled strip products, cold-rolled strip products, metal-coated strip products, color-coated strip products, tubes and sections, and infrastructure products. Customers and End-Users SSAB Europe’s product portfolio allows the division to serve customers in various segments and in a range of applications. SSAB Europe sells products both directly to end customers and to service centers and wholesalers. Some of the products for the Nordic and Baltic markets are also supplied through Tibnor. SSAB Europe’s main customer segments include construction and infrastructure, automotive, industrial applications, heavy transportation, energy, construction machinery, service centers, and marine and offshore. SSAB Europe supplies different steel grades to major OEMs in the heavy and commercial vehicle sector. This division also sells its products to major agricultural machinery makers. Heavy plates are used in the Nordic markets and within Europe in the energy sectors, while color-coated materials are used primarily by manufacturers of steel roofing and rainwater systems, particularly in the Nordic and Eastern European markets. Strategy This division’s strategic priorities include focusing on working safely throughout the division; securing market leadership in the Nordic home market; improving the premium mix in the product portfolio, 40% by 2020; improving sales of advanced high-strength steel to the automotive industry; and improving efficiency and productivity, along with quality and delivery accuracy, through continuous improvement. Competition SSAB Europe’s main competitors include ArcelorMittal, Dillinger Hütte, Salzgitter, ThyssenKrupp, Tata Steel Europe, US Steel and Voestalpine. SSAB Americas division This division is the major producer and supplier of steel plate in North America. SSAB Americas’ modern steel mills are located in Mobile, Alabama and Montpelier, Iowa; and have a combined annual production capacity of 2.4 million tonnes. Both mills utilize a scrap-based, electric arc furnace method to produce steel. The mills are located to cover the industrial heartland in North America, with access to the strategic port systems, intercoastal waterways and major railways, which provide logistical advantages. Products This division’s products include heavy plate products, such as plate coils, heat-treated plates, and normalized plates; and other products, such as hot-rolled coils, cold-rolled coils, metal-coated products, and pre-painted products. Customers and End-Users SSAB Americas manufactures a range of steel products, including advanced high-strength steels that are used in various industries. SSAB Americas sells products both directly to end customers and to steel service centers. Main customer segments include energy (gas, oil, offshore structures, transmission towers, wind turbines and petrochemical tanks), heavy transport (railway transport, ships and offshore, agriculture, forestry and fishing), construction (lifting, yellow goods and construction machinery), infrastructure (water transmission, storage tanks and bridges), mining (earthmoving equipment), and service centers (plate and coil). Strategy This division’s strategy includes safety focus throughout the division; industry-leading customer service levels and e-commerce options; and low-cost leadership position, maintained through commitment to continuous improvement. Competition SSAB Americas’ primary competitors are domestic steel producers, such as Nucor and ArcelorMittal. Tibnor Tibnor distributes a range of steel and non-ferrous metals to various industries in the Nordics and Baltics. Tibnor buys and sells materials produced both by the company and other suppliers. Tibnor offers a range of steel, metals and related processing services in line with customer needs. Tibnor plays a primary role in securing the company’s leadership in the home market, where distribution channels constitute approximately half of the Nordic steel market. Tibnor has built a brand through a product offering and focus on value-adding processing services, as well as logistics and customer service solutions. Products and Services The company’s product range represents approximately 45% of Tibnor’s sales. Other suppliers’ commercial and special steel products distributed by Tibnor include engineering steel and long products, such as beams, merchant bars and hollow sections used for building purposes, as well as rebars for the construction industry. Stainless steel and non-ferrous metals, mainly aluminum and copper, account for approximately 20% of sales. As a steel distributor, Tibnor is a logistics expert with a distribution system that works with different logistics flows. Logistics solutions range from 24-hour stock deliveries to individual material flows designed to meet customer needs. Tibnor processes all product groups supplied to the market. Tibnor’s machinery and equipment are specialized in different materials, which enable it to meet complex customer needs. Tibnor also offers various contact points and service solutions for the customers. Customers could choose between using e-services, electronic data interchange, Webshop or personal service. Customers and End-Users Tibnor’s customers are Nordic and Baltic industrial companies who use steel and other metals in their manufacturing processes and/or end products. Key segments are subcontracting, engineering, automotive (including heavy vehicles), and construction. Tibnor has approximately 10,000 customers in the Nordics and Baltics in various industries and the customers include everything from large OEMs to small and mid-size companies. Strategy Tibnor’s strategy includes winning market shares through the broadest product offering in the Nordics; improving parts business volumes through a specialized network of processing units; continued development of value-added offering focusing on customer value; leveraging digitalization and automation; and utilizing competencies, best-practices, assets and purchasing power across the Nordics – being a strong partner to customers and suppliers. Competition Tibnor’s competitors include BE Group, Stena Stål, Norsk Stål and Kontino. Ruukki Construction Ruukki Construction is responsible for the sale and production of building and construction solutions, with a focus on northern and eastern Europe. Ruukki Construction includes Plannja AB. Ruukki Construction operates both in the residential and non-residential construction segments. Ruukki Construction offers sustainable building and construction products and services, such as roofs, envelopes and frame structures. These services are available either on a product-specific basis or optimized as a package from one and the same supplier. The product portfolio includes steel-based structures, such as sandwich wall and roof panels; and profiled building components, such as loadbearing sheets and residential roofing products, and steel frames. Products and Services Ruukki Construction provides steel roofs, rainwater systems and accessories for residential construction; components, such as sandwich panels, loadbearing sheets and façade claddings for non-residential construction; frame solutions used in non-residential buildings; delivery package optimization based on customer needs; and design and installation services. Ruukki Construction has operations in 15 countries, with production units in Seinäjoki, Alajärvi, Vimpeli and Ylivieska (Finland); Zyrardów and Oborniki (Poland); Obninsk and Balabanova (Russia); Gargždai (Lithuania); Tunari (Romania); Anderslöv, Järnforsen and Landsbro (Sweden); Pärnu (Estonia) and Kopylov (Ukraine). Ruukki Construction’s major steel supplier is SSAB Europe. External steel suppliers, mainly in CEE and Russia, play a minor role. Customers and End-Users Ruukki Construction’s customers operate in various activities across various countries. The major decision-making groups are architects and structural designers, main contractors and installation companies, real estate owners and developers, residential roofing dealers and tin smiths, and house owners. Ruukki Construction’s core business segments include non-residential construction, residential construction, and industrial and bridge construction. Strategy Ruukki Construction’s strategy includes providing a complete steel roof package for private consumers, prefabricated house factories, roof installers and tinsmiths both for the construction of new houses and the renovation of existing ones; providing leading energy efficient and architectural envelope solutions for construction companies, tinsmiths, installation companies, and frame and envelope contractors; expanding value chain towards decision makers and influencers, architects, designers and real estate investors; providing components, such as sandwich panels and claddings, for renovating existing buildings; differentiating with an energy-efficient, architectural and sustainable portfolio; and developing project portfolio by increasing design responsibility and collaborating with customers already at the project development stage. Competition Building Components and Residential Roofing: Ruukki Construction competes with component suppliers, such as Kingspan, Paroc, Trimo, Lindab, Weckman Steel, Metall Profil, Balex Metal and Blachy Pruszynski. Research and Development During 2017, the company’s research and development investments amounted to SEK 343 (280) million. History SSAB AB (publ) was founded in 1978.
