Special Trains for Expansion of ArcelorMittal Cold Rolling Mill in Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany

Logistics Insight Asia - Industry News, 21/7/2008

Elaborate logistics concept: More than 100 additional trains ensure uninterrupted production of cold rolled strip during construction.

The expansion of ArcelorMittal’s cold rolling mill in Eisenhüttenstadt requires an elaborate logistics concept: Production has to be transferred to other plants during the construction phase, which requires the various plants to be continually supplied via rail. DB Schenker Rail is using 100 special trains to achieve this goal.

At its Eisenhüttenstadt plant, ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel maker, produces 2.3 million tons of crude steel annually, which is then further processed to make high-quality sheet steel. DB Schenker Rail supplies the plant with feedstock and also handles the shipment of finished and semi-finished products. Every day, three heavy ore trains transport more than 9,000 tons of iron ore from the port of Hamburg to Eisenhüttenstadt, thereby ensuring the continuous flow of feedstock required to operate the blast furnaces. On the shipping side, 1.2 million tons of finished and semi-finished goods are shipped to customers by environmentally friendly rail every year, thereby easing the burden of heavy truck traffic on the region’s roads.

ArcelorMittal’s Eisenhüttenstadt plant primarily produces sheet steel for the automotive industry. The decision to expand the capacity of the Eisenhüttenstadt cold rolling mill was driven by rising demand. The only way the expansion measures could take place was to shut down production of the cold rolling mill for several weeks and shift production to the group’s other plants. In view of the close interlocking between hot rolling mill and cold rolling mill, the main task facing logistics experts at ArcelorMittal in Eisenhüttenstadt and DB Schenker Rail was to develop a safe, reliable and yet flexible concept for the “rerouting services” between plants located in Eisenhüttenstadt, Gent and Bremen. The concept had to guarantee the continuous removal of product from the hot rolling mill as well as the exact scheduled delivery to the corresponding receiving plant. To achieve this goal, DB Schenker Rail employs demand-oriented special trains – known as Flextrains –, which connect the plants reliably and quickly: A 2,400 ton Flextrain travels the 530 kilometers between Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt in eight hours. Plans call for more than 100 special train runs to maintain uninterrupted production of cold rolled strip even during the transfer phase. At the end of 2008, Eisenhüttenstadt will have expanded its capacity to 1.85 million tons of cold rolled steel – and, again, a major portion of this will reach customers via environmentally-friendly rail.

Deutsche Bahn AG, www.db.de