FAQ BROCKHAUS Stahl

Who is BROCKHAUS Stahl?

BROCKHAUS Stahl is the strip steel specialist within the independent, family-owned BROCKHAUS Group, headquartered in Plettenberg (South Westphalia, Germany). In its own cold rolling mill, the company produces high-quality strip steel for demanding applications – in particular for safety-relevant components. Customers benefit from over 160 years of industrial experience and combined expertise in the “Technologies” and “Materials” business units.

What is the core business of BROCKHAUS Stahl?

BROCKHAUS Stahl refines hot-rolled material in its own cold rolling mill into high-quality cold-rolled strip or modified slit strip. These products feature specific mechanical properties that are crucial especially for safety-critical components.

What is the company’s guiding principle?

BROCKHAUS Stahl works according to the principle: “Precision. In quality. On time.” – meaning highest precision in dimensions and properties, reproducible quality, and reliable on-time delivery.

Who manages BROCKHAUS Stahl?

The management team consists of Jens Olberts (Managing Director BROCKHAUS Stahl) and Caspar N. Brockhaus (CEO of the BROCKHAUS Group).

Is BROCKHAUS Stahl part of the BROCKHAUS Group and what are the benefits?

Yes. BROCKHAUS Stahl is a business unit of the BROCKHAUS Group, an independent, family-owned industrial group with sites in Germany and Poland.
Customers benefit from an integrated portfolio including:

  • Strip steel (BROCKHAUS Stahl)
  • Metal recycling (BROCKHAUS Recycling)
  • Environmental technology (BROCKHAUS UMWELT)
  • Measuring technology (BROCKHAUS Messtechnik)
  • Activities in Poland (BROCKHAUS Polska)
  • Hydrogen technology (H2 BlueCube)

This enables technically and ecologically optimized end-to-end solutions along the value chain.

Where does BROCKHAUS Stahl produce, and how long has the company existed?

BROCKHAUS Stahl produces strip steel in its cold rolling mill at the Plettenberg site in South Westphalia, Germany. The BROCKHAUS Group has more than 160 years of industrial history. BROCKHAUS Stahl has been an integral part of this development for many decades and stands for long-standing experience in strip steel production.

Which strip steel products does BROCKHAUS Stahl offer?

BROCKHAUS Stahl produces:

  • Cold-rolled strip steel
  • Modified slit strip

in various grades, strength levels and surface finishes. The strips meet tight tolerances in thickness, width and flatness, and are designed for high formability and reproducible mechanical properties – with a strong focus on safety-relevant components.

What is the difference between cold-rolled strip and slit strip from BROCKHAUS Stahl?

  • Cold-rolled strip: Hot-rolled material is cold-rolled to the requested thickness and thereby receives defined strength levels and surface qualities.
  • Slit strip: Produced by precise slitting of cold-rolled strip into narrower bands (rings). This gives you exactly the strip widths you need for subsequent processing steps.

 

Both product lines are designed for narrow tolerances and high process stability.

Which steel grades and materials does BROCKHAUS Stahl offer?

BROCKHAUS Stahl provides a broad range of materials for different requirements:

Microalloyed fine-grain steels
High strength combined with good formability
– e.g. HC180Y to HC500LA

High-strength microalloyed steels (BHS series)
Extreme formability combined with excellent wear resistance
– e.g. BHS 600 to BHS 1000

Carbon steels (C steels)
Suitable for customer-side heat treatment
– e.g. C22E to C60E

Case-hardening and quenched & tempered steels
High wear and fracture resistance
– e.g. 16MnCr5, 42CrMo4

Spring steels
Outstanding elasticity and fatigue strength
– e.g. C55S to 75Ni8

Cold strip with electromagnetic properties
Especially for relays, valves or stators
– e.g. BMS 90 and BMS 100

DC steels
Mild, highly formable steels
– e.g. DC01, DC03, DC04

Depending on the application, BROCKHAUS Stahl supplies grades with optimized formability, wear resistance or fatigue strength and supports customers in selecting the best-suited steel grade.

In which industries are BROCKHAUS Stahl’s strips used?

BROCKHAUS Stahl strips are used in many industries, including:

Mobility / automotive industry:
Components for chassis, driveline and safety; around 3 million vehicles per year are manufactured with components made from BROCKHAUS cold-rolled strip.

Coinage:
Proven core material for circulating coins.

Agricultural engineering:
Robust and wear-resistant components for agricultural machinery.

Other industries:
Mechanical engineering, defense applications, key manufacturing, high-performance springs and many other use cases requiring precise, high-strength strip steel.

What dimensions does BROCKHAUS Stahl offer for strip steel?

BROCKHAUS Stahl is specialized in cold-rolled strips and offers:

Thickness

Cold-rolled strip: approx. 0.8 mm to 14.0 mm

Slit strip: up to 16.0 mm
(overall production range: 0.8 mm to 16.0 mm)

Width

Finished widths: 25 mm to 1300 mm

According to configurator: up to 1400 mm possible

Exact dimensions are defined project-specifically. Together with the customer, BROCKHAUS Stahl develops a supply program that matches tools, production lines and components.

Which production tolerances does BROCKHAUS Stahl guarantee?

BROCKHAUS Stahl manufactures with a precision of up to +0.01 mm, ensuring maximum safety in demanding applications and high process stability at the customer.

Which inside diameters (ID) are available for coils/rings?

The following ring inside diameters are available:

  • 400 mm
  • 508 mm
  • 610 mm

Which surface qualities does BROCKHAUS Stahl offer?

Available surface qualities include:

  • MA RM
  • MA RL
  • MB RM
  • MB RL

The surface is specified in line with component requirements, downstream processes and visual criteria.

Which services around strip steel does BROCKHAUS Stahl provide?

In addition to producing strip steel, BROCKHAUS Stahl offers an extensive range of services, including:

  • Slitting (narrowing strip)
  • Annealing (soft annealing or recrystallization annealing)
  • Custom packaging concepts
  • Storage and inventory services
  • Just-in-time deliveries
  • Technical application support

The goal is to create customer-specific supply chain solutions that simplify procurement and reduce process costs.

Which toll processing services does BROCKHAUS Stahl offer?

For customer-owned material, BROCKHAUS Stahl provides:

Toll annealing:
Soft annealing or recrystallization annealing in protective atmosphere

Toll rolling:
Cold rolling to very tight thickness tolerances

Toll slitting:
Precise production of narrower strips (rings)

Additional services:

Neutral packaging

Labeling

Chemical and mechanical material testing

Does BROCKHAUS Stahl support customers with material selection and component design?

Yes. The application engineering team of BROCKHAUS Stahl supports customers from early concept phase through to series production, including:

  • Analysis of load spectra and forming processes
  • Selection of suitable strip steel grades and strength levels
  • Recommendations for heat treatment
  • Optimization of strip design, dimensions and surface quality

The aim is to optimally balance weight, cost and performance of the component.

What is the typical inquiry and quotation process at BROCKHAUS Stahl?

Typical steps:

  1. The customer shares technical requirements
    (drawings, material spectrum, mechanical properties, dimensions, annual quantity, logistics requirements).
  2. Based on this, BROCKHAUS Stahl prepares a technically and commercially optimized quotation.
  3. Open questions are clarified in direct exchanges with the customer’s purchasing and engineering teams.
  4. On request, BROCKHAUS Stahl already supports during early project phases to optimally define material and strip design.

Which annual tonnages and batch sizes is BROCKHAUS Stahl suitable for?

BROCKHAUS Stahl is a reliable partner for:

  • Medium annual and project tonnages
  • High annual and project tonnages

Thanks to flexible production planning, pilot lots, ramp-up phases and long-term large-scale projects can be handled economically. The optimal batch size is defined together with the customer to balance material costs, setup times and logistics effort.

Which delivery and logistics services does BROCKHAUS Stahl offer?

BROCKHAUS Stahl supports customers with flexible delivery concepts, such as:

  • Classic call-off orders
  • Consignment stock
  • Just-in-time and just-in-sequence deliveries

Tailored packaging concepts, demand-driven lot sizes and efficient logistics processes ensure high material availability while reducing inventory and process costs.

How are delivery, logistics and packaging organized in practice at BROCKHAUS Stahl?

On-time delivery is enabled by:

  • Dedicated rail connection
  • Flexible truck scheduling
  • Large storage capacities for coils and cut lengths

Depending on customer requirements, packaging can be provided vertically (eye to sky) or horizontally (eye to side).

What are the main benefits of working with BROCKHAUS Stahl for my production?

Customers benefit from:

  • High and consistent material quality
  • Tight tolerances in thickness, width and flatness
  • Reliable supply chains and flexible logistics
  • Strip steels designed for efficient downstream processing

This helps to reduce scrap, unplanned downtime and tool wear. As part of the BROCKHAUS Group, BROCKHAUS Stahl can also offer integrated solutions for recycling, environmental technology and decarbonization.

How does BROCKHAUS Stahl ensure quality and process reliability?

BROCKHAUS Stahl relies on:

  • State-of-the-art cold rolling and annealing technology
  • Standardized testing procedures
  • Continuous process monitoring

Mechanical properties, surfaces and dimensions are systematically tested to ensure reproducible quality, especially for safety-relevant components. In addition, the company adheres to common industrial and automotive standards and continuously improves its processes.

What role does sustainability play at BROCKHAUS Stahl and the BROCKHAUS Group?

Sustainability is an integral part of the BROCKHAUS Group’s strategy. The Group has been climate-neutral since 2019 and fully offsets its CO₂ footprint. BROCKHAUS Stahl contributes by:

  • Producing efficiently
  • Closing material loops
  • Developing CO₂-reduced solutions together with customers and sister companies in recycling, environmental technology and hydrogen technology.

Is BROCKHAUS Stahl climate-neutral?

Yes. BROCKHAUS Stahl has been CO₂-neutral since 2019. Each delivery is carbon-accounted individually, and in-house emissions are fully offset.

What does CO₂-reduced or CO₂-neutral steel mean at BROCKHAUS Stahl?

BROCKHAUS Stahl positions itself as a CO₂-neutral steel partner and helps customers reduce the carbon footprint of their steel products. This is achieved through:

  • Optimized production processes
  • Use of secondary raw materials from recycling
  • Offsetting unavoidable emissions
  • In the future: using green hydrogen for energy-intensive process steps within the BROCKHAUS Group.

How is CO₂-reduced steel realized at BROCKHAUS Stahl?

CO₂-reduced steel is achieved through:

  • Decarbonizing the upstream value chain in cooperation with partners (e.g. SALCOS®, greentec steel)
  • Closed material loops (closed-loop models)
  • Using CO₂-reduced pre-materials and secondary raw materials

Which internal decarbonization measures does BROCKHAUS Stahl implement?

Key measures include:

  • Use of green electricity since 2022
  • Investment in an in-house 3 MW hydrogen production project powered by a photovoltaic plant
  • Offsetting unavoidable emissions with high-quality Verified Carbon Units

How does the closed-loop material cycle with BROCKHAUS Recycling work?

Working together with BROCKHAUS Recycling, customers can establish a closed-loop material cycle:

  • Production scrap and end-of-life steel/metal parts are collected and separated by type.
  • These are then fed back into the production process as valuable secondary raw materials.

Benefits:

  • Reduced demand for primary raw materials
  • Significantly lower CO₂ footprint across the entire value chain
  • Higher security of supply for raw materials

What synergies exist between BROCKHAUS Stahl, BROCKHAUS UMWELT and the H2 BlueCube electrolyser?

Through the BROCKHAUS Group, BROCKHAUS Stahl integrates its activities with:

BROCKHAUS UMWELT: Provides full-service environmental solutions, such as activated carbon filters to remove hydrocarbons from exhaust air and wastewater, supporting customers in emission reduction along the supply chain.

H2 BlueCube (hydrogen technology): Produces green hydrogen using alkaline electrolysis and enables the future use of climate-friendly process energy in steel and recycling processes.

This creates combined sustainability solutions in steel, recycling, environmental technology and hydrogen – all from a single source.

How does BROCKHAUS Stahl support customers in decarbonizing their supply chain?

BROCKHAUS Stahl supports customers in reducing CO₂ emissions over the entire lifecycle of their components by:

  • Providing high-quality, process-stable strip steels (less scrap and rework)
  • Implementing closed-loop models with BROCKHAUS Recycling
  • Integrating environmental and hydrogen solutions within the BROCKHAUS Group

This helps customers reduce their Scope 3 emissions and better meet the sustainability requirements of OEMs and end customers.