Bad Soden, Germany,
15
May
2008
|
15:00
Europe/Amsterdam

Messer starts construction of first production facility in Germany

One week after its return to the German market, Messer has commenced construction of its new production facility with a total investment of €35 million.

On 15 May 2008, Messer, the industrial gases specialist, commenced construction of a production facility for air gases on the site of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke in Siegen. Messer is investing €35 million in the air separation plant for the production of oxygen, nitrogen and argon. On the occasion of the official laying of the foundation stone, Karl Haase, Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke, discussed air separation plants, environmental and climate protection issues as well as training opportunities and future markets with Steffen Mues, Mayor of Siegen, as well as Hartmut Böse and Peter Schulte, Managing Director and Sales Manager of Messer Industriegase GmbH respectively.

The Messer production facility will be built on the site of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke GmbH in Siegen-Geisweid and operated by Messer Industriegase. From autumn 2009, it will supply a total of 15,000 standard cubic metres of liquid gases per hour. The largest consumer of the oxygen, nitrogen and argon components will be Deutsche Edelstahlwerke itself. The remainder of the facility’s total hourly output of 9000 standard cubic metres of liquid nitrogen, 6000 standard cubic metres of liquid oxygen and over 300 standard cubic metres of argon will be used to supply the expanding industrial manufacturing sector in the region around Siegen.

In the shape of Deutsche Edelstahlwerke, Messer has won the largest privately managed manufacturer of stainless steel long products as a long-term partner. The steelworks in Witten, Hagen, Hattingen, Krefeld, Lüdenscheid and Stuttgart have been owned by the Düsseldorf-based firm Schmolz + Bickenbach since 2005. In Siegen, Messer is going to build a modern filling plant for industrial gases in steel cylinders. Messer is investing around two million euros in the new plant, which will come on stream in the middle of 2008. Before this, at the beginning of May 2008, Messer Industriegase GmbH had opened a sales office in Siegen-Kaan Marienborn, aimed primarily at serving medium-sized customers. In total, around 20 new jobs will be created in Siegen, largely in the industrial sector. Messer has operated a logistics centre for industrial gases here since May 2007. Messer is planning to build another air separation plant at Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH in Salzgitter. This plant will go into operation in 2010.

Over €170 million invested

The Messer Group’s financial year 2007 was marked by a twelve percent increase in sales revenue compared with the previous year. Investment was in the region of €173 million, which equates to 24.6 percent of annual turnover. As in the previous year, the majority of our investments went into the construction of air separation plants in Europe and China in order to safeguard an independent product supply.