SIJ Group is among three largest manufacturer of stainless quarto plates in the EU, the third largest manufacturer of tool steel in the EU market, and among the 10 largest manufacturers of industrial knives in the world. They operate in line with the principles of circular economy and utilize their vertical integration strategy for access to steel scrap through their own raw material base. This allows them to cover the entire value chain from raw materials to end products, thus providing customers with high quality solutions, while receiving feedback from end users, which is invaluable for our further development.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
SIJ GROUP: Our main areas of activity is the manufacture of steel and steel products. Auxiliary activities include raw material base for steel scrap collection, our distribution division for local presence with our materials and other services.
E.E: What’s the news for 2021 about new products?
SIJ GROUP: In 2021 our focus will be on new ESR stainless steel grades for the aerospace industry under our SINOXX brand, new and improved high-purity hot-work and cold-work tool steel grades, namely in the SITHERM S and SIHARD S range of products from SIJ Metal Ravne, as well as widening our offer of SIWATT electrical steels for e-mobility from SIJ Acroni.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
SIJ GROUP: Our core products are: Stainless steel, sold under our SINOXX brand, wear resistant and high strength heavy plates under brand names SIDUR and SIMAXX, our SIWATT non-grain oriented electrical steels and a wide array of tool steels in the form of bars(rolled and forged), blocks and forgings – SIHARD cold-work tool steels, SITHERM hot-work tool steels, SIMOLD plastic mold steels, SIRAPID high-speed steels.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
SIJ GROUP: Nearly all of our core markets are in the mature stage. Although steel consumption is growing every year, the entry barriers are very high and the industry is already quite consolidated.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
SIJ GROUP: We operate in 70 countries worldwide and supply to a wide range of industries, so trends tend to differ by region and product. Generally, we see more interest in more demanding products, which comes with its own set of challenges in quality management and supply chain. On the other hand, some segments are not very keen to accept new products, even if they are better than existing ones, and require much more input and testing in order to make sure new product adoption happens. Here, our strong technical support and close relationships with our customers come into play to make the process smooth, easy and safe.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2021?
SIJ GROUP: The steel industry and related industries are slowly recovering. In the SIJ Group, this positive trend is reflected in orders that are at the level of orders before the pandemic and thus also in more positive indicators of the SIJ Group’s operations.
