Germany's ThyssenKrupp Steel on Monday said it is now carrying out significant investment to expand its storage capacities at the port of Rotterdam. It said from 2009 the steel mill that it is currently building in Brazil will ship 2.1 million mt of steel slabs to Europe each year, and to be processed into flat steel products at the company's sites in Germany.

ThyssenKrupp Steel has decided to transship the slabs at the port of Rotterdam. The Port of Rotterdam Authority will create the necessary infrastructure for this, and the logistics company Steinweg will build a highly modern terminal with storage capacities and cranes. For the first time, the slabs will be handled by means of magnets, ThyssenKrupp Steel said in a statement.

This technology offers significant cost advantages, the company added. The combination of slab and container handling at the new terminal will provide maximum flexbility and productivity. Onward transportation of the slabs to the production sites of ThyssenKrupp Steel in Duisburg and Bochum will be by barge and rail.

The company will therefore be concentrating its slab logistics in Rotterdam, where it also tradtionally handles raw materials such as iron ore and coal. Meanwhile, steel exports for overseas destinations will continue to be handled via the port of Antwerp. ThyssenKrupp Steel owns interest in a sea freight forwarding company and a transshipment terminal.