With €641m in new orders, up by more than 60% compared to 2021, and a profit after tax of €23.7m (compared to €4.9m in 2020), Paul Wurth concluded “an excellent year”, said CEO Georges Rassel during a press conference on Tuesday.
It’s the best performance in ten years, he said, explained by “the expanded offer of digital solutions and emission reduction technologies. Decarbonisation is a key element of our growth strategy and it is starting to pay off.”
But switching to 100% green steel will be costly. At €1bn per tonne of steel production capacity, it would need to invest up to €100bn to achieve this target.
Russian contracts frozen until further notice
However, the figures must also be seen in the light of the war in Ukraine. The largest order, signed by the Russian Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK), has been frozen since 10 March and “until an unspecified date”, said Paul Wurth’s CEO.
With a blue and yellow flag in support of Ukraine in the middle of the presentation, the company said it had frozen all its operations in Russia. “No work other than safety-critical maintenance is being carried out,” the company said. The group did everything possible to exfiltrate the five members of its teams who were based in Mariupol. “Because of electricity problems, we didn’t hear much, but they managed to get out of the city early enough. Three Ukrainian women arrived in Luxembourg. We have applied all the sanctions and we obviously support all Ukrainians. Internally, we organised a fundraising campaign which enabled us to raise €150,000, and management decided to double the amount.”
While Russia accounts for 40% of the new orders signed in 2021, MMK was also to host Blue BF technologies: a syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which can help to significantly reduce the amount of solid carbon fuels needed to continue the reaction in the blast furnace, and even in an existing blast furnace. Syngas is injected into the blast furnace shaft, reducing CO2 emissions and increasing productivity in ironmaking.
As a sign of the value of its diversification in terms of products and customers, Paul Wurth has completed , Germany, and another in Sweden, which will run 100% on hydrogen. 2022 should see the launch of a green aviation fuel, the Norwegian norsk e-fuel, and its probable arrival in Luxembourg. This will demonstrate the interest of its technologies.
Strategic diversification
The group has two wholly-owned subsidiaries--CTI Systems, directed by Bob Greiveldinger, and Geprolux, led by Anne-Marie Solvi.
CTI systems reported €62m and a positive ebitda with clients such as Alunorf, the aircraft manufacturers Airbus and the Chinese company Comac, as well as Ceratizit, Avery Dennison and B Medical Systems in Luxembourg.
The second, which provides consultancy and management assistance for large projects, has worked on the European Parliament's KAD, the new National Fire and Rescue Centre in Gasperich and the new national football stadium.
In 2021, Solvi and her team signed up to manage the coordination of the tram route to Hollerich, the BIM management for the new railway station in Bettembourg or the new Reuler school complex in Clervaux.
“It’s still happening here,” said Rassel, adding that the presence of SMS Group, a subsidiary of the Weiss family foundation, does not change anything for the 642 of the 1,852 employees working in Luxembourg. The sole shareholder not only bought out the 40.8% of the state last year, but also added €17m to the capital, sealed the launch of a at the University of Luxembourg, entrusted to Bradley Ladewig, and gave the green light for the construction, in 2024, of the group’s new headquarters, a few hundred metres from the current office.
This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.