A new beginning and new development

After just a few years it became apparent that there was no long-term future for Preussag Stahl AG as a member of the Preussag Group. The focus of Group activities was increasingly shifting towards the tourism industry, and the steel division was put up for sale. In order to protect the steel industry in Lower Saxony and the employment it provided, the state of Lower Saxony and Norddeutsche Landesbank intervened. In 1998, they enabled the company to become independent and to go public, at the same time changing its name from Preussag Stahl AG to Salzgitter AG.

1998 thus saw the beginning of a whole new chapter in the history of Salzgitter AG which, at this time, could already look back on 140 years of tradition. The name recalled the former group holding company, the state-owned Salzgitter AG. However, the new Salzgitter AG is a listed company which, since 1998, has uniquely proved its abilities.

In 2000, Salzgitter AG added the steel tubes business to its traditional core activity of steel by taking over Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG and the Mannesmann brand. Mannesmann has been the epitome of top-quality steel pipes for over 130 years.

In 2007 Klöckner-Werke AG was acquired, laying the foundation for the new Technology Division, today business unit Technology. Klöckner-Werke was an international engineering company focusing in particular on filling and packaging plants.

Parallel to this expansion, the Group underwent numerous restructuring changes to its organization. In 2001 the Group adopted a holding company structure, while production at the Salzgitter and Peine plants was spun off with the creation of the new subsidiaries Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH and Peiner Träger GmbH. Since then, Salzgitter AG as the management holding company, has stood at the head of a modern, innovative Steel and Technology Group whose subsidiaries and associate companies maintain a successful global presence – a Group that is young in years, but with a great tradition.