 The most important product in the BÖHLER-UDDEHOLM is tool steel, which is subdivided into cold work steel, hot work steel, plastics moulding steel and special grades. Within the Group, tool steel is the responsibility of the High Performance Metals Division. The raw material for tool steel is pre-sorted scrap, which is purchased from scrap dealers and the metalworking industry or recycled from our own production. This high-grade scrap is melted at temperatures of 1,600° C in electric arc furnaces in Kapfenberg (Austria), Hagfors (Sweden), Sumaré (Brazil) and Wetzlar (Germany) with capacities of 25, 50, 70 and 100 tonnes. Induction ovens are also available to process smaller quantities.
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 The liquid steel is then poured into so called ladles, where all secondary metallurgical processes are carried out and the final alloy is adjusted. The most important alloying elements are vanadium, chromium, nickel, tungsten, cobalt and molybdenum. The melting process is controlled by state-of-the-art computer systems and the chemical composition of each charge is verified in our own laboratories. Tool steels have an average alloy content of 5% to 15%, but this figure can range up to 50% for high-alloy steel, thus the term high-grade or special steel.
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 The charge is then cast into blocks weighing between 0.6 and 100 tonnes. These blocks are hot-rolled in the Groups rolling mills, or forged using high-performance machinery. End products range from large blocks, bars, and profiles to wire made of tool steel and are therefore referred to as long products (in contrast to flat products). Our rolling mill in Mürzzuschlag produces sheets and plates.
The Group supplies roughly 100,000 customers throughout the world, whereby the most important consumers of tool steel are tool builders. These companies receive not only high quality tool steel from BÖHLER-UDDEHOLM but also advice, know-how and a wide range of services (machining, surface treatment, heat treatment, etc.) to guarantee selection of the right grade and processing for their specific needs. Average sales to an individual tool builder total roughly 110 kg of tool steel.
Tool builders use our products to construct a large range of industrial tools and forms for cutting, punching milling or forming metals and plastics, and supply these tools to a wide variety of manufacturers. Their customers include the automotive and automotive supplier industries, tool and machinery manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, consumer goods and electronics industries, wood and saw industries, textile and paper industries, steel and apparatus construction, power generation, oilfield technology and plant construction.
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BÖHLER-UDDEHOLM is the world’s leading manufacturer of tool steel, with a market share of approximately 34% (based on value) and an annual crude steel production of roughly 800,000 tonnes. This special steel is a classic niche product, where not quantity, but rather quality - durability, wear and corrosion resistance, polishing characteristics - is of primary importance. Tool steel is therefore considerably more expensive than carbon, construction or stainless steels.
Further Information in the Annual Report 2007/08.
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