voestalpine in Linz

Inventories of €100 million set aside for repairs

voestalpine is not only investing millions in Linz for the future.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

Parallel to the mega construction site for green steel production, which is due to go into operation in 2027, voestalpine is currently repairing a plant in Linz which is needed for the proven production process. A blast furnace has been shut down for 80 days. A project costing millions.

Attention construction site - this is now doubly true for the voestalpine site in Linz. The Group has already invested a total of EUR 273 million in its greentec-steel program, which aims to make steel production green.

With the commissioning of one electric arc furnace each in Linz and Donawitz in 2027, the company says it will reduce its CO2 emissions by 30 percent by 2029, making it Austria's largest climate protection program. Work is currently running at full speed - in parallel with ongoing operations, this is extremely demanding.

There are currently three blast furnaces in Linz
With the move towards electricity-powered steel production, the first of three blast furnaces in Linz will also be shut down from 2027. However, to ensure that they remain operational for as long as they are needed, repair work is required, which is currently being carried out on one of the furnaces. This means that blast furnace six will be shut down for 80 days.

The investment for this is not without cost: "The lining of the blast furnace costs around 30 million euros," revealed CEO Herbert Eibensteiner recently. Provisions have been made to ensure that the necessary break does not cause any delays in delivery and that enough pig iron is available for further processing. In total, material was built up and financed for this in the first quarter of 2024/25. Value: around EUR 100 million.