Niedersachsen
Steel and other metals
The steel industry, as supplier of a basic industrial material, is crucially important to the entire value chain.
Niedersachsen: steel state
The broad spectrum of iron, steel and other metals industry in Niedersachsen comprises:
- raw iron, raw steel and non-ferrous metal production
- processing stages such as cold drawing, casting, forging
- a wide range of metal products as components and final products
Niedersachsen's steel industry supplies a basic material of crucial importance to the industrial value chain; this sector ensures the capacities and innovative competences of the region's industry, and its quality is felt far beyond Niedersachsen, throughout Germany and Europe. Important customers are the automobile industry, mechanical engineering, electronics, construction, and steel- and metalworking companies.
- 7.6 m tonnes of raw steel
- 42,000 workers
- 18% of total German production
Niedersachsen is strong on steel: around 10,000 workers in the State's steel industry produce about 7.2 million tonnes of raw steel a year – that's 17% of Germany's total production. Salzgitter AG, Germany's second-largest steel producer, is based here, and ranks among the top five Niedersachsen companies for value creation and turnover. Other major steel producers in Niedersachsen are Georgsmarienhütte GmbH im Osnabrücker Land and Benteler Steel/Tube GmbH in Lingen, Emsland.
Value creation chains in the region
Around 36,000 people are employed in Niedersachsen's steel- and metalworking industry. Many companies are SMEs, run mainly by the founding families, employing an average of 100 workers, and important customers of the steelworks. The sector is typically highly specialised and competitive; companies produce for international markets in the automobile, electronics and construction industries, mechanical engineering and trade. The Butting Gruppe, based in Knesebeck near Göttingen, is among the enterprises with the highest turnovers in Niedersachsen's metalworking sector, while in non-ferrous metals KME AG from Osnabrück leads the field.
Links to the metal industry's professional associations: