Plansee: Continuing on the road to success with a clear strategy

Breitenwang/Reutte, July 6, 2023 – Through acquisitions, the sale of non-core activities, and lucrative contracts in its core business, the Plansee Group has further strengthened its core competence around the two key materials molybdenum and tungsten in the past fiscal year. In the future, the group aims to further expand group-wide synergies.

The manufacturer of high-performance materials and tools made from extremely strong metals has once again achieved record sales: "With our clear strategy, the great commitment of our employees, and the high adaptability of our organization, we successfully mastered the past fiscal year despite difficult conditions," said Karlheinz Wex, CEO of the Plansee Group.

The Plansee Group increased its sales in the past fiscal year 2022/23, which ended on February 28, 2023, by 16 percent – from 2.02 to 2.35 billion euros. Both business areas, Plansee High Performance Materials and Ceratizit, contributed equally to the sales increase. Products with higher added value performed particularly well. While orders from the aerospace and medical technology industries increased significantly, demand from the construction and electronics industries cooled.

Strengthening Internal Performance

The challenging conditions included fluctuating raw material prices at a relatively high price level as well as sharply rising input prices for energy, auxiliary and operating materials, and other external services. "With several price adjustments, we were able to pass on a large part of our costs to customers," said Karlheinz Wex.

High inflation and high energy costs in Europe, geopolitical conflicts, local protectionism, rapidly changing markets: Karlheinz Wex announced plans to further expand the adaptability and resilience of the organization in a world full of uncertainties. Consequently, the production network and process landscapes must be further developed to make the company not only more efficient but also more resilient to disruptions of any kind. "This also includes the question of which products we produce for which markets in which regions," said Karlheinz Wex.

Measures for sustainability and employer branding were also part of securing the future. The development of sustainable products for customers is a strong driver for innovations and can open up new business models. Recruiting the right employees is a prerequisite for fully leveraging the strengths of the Plansee Group in all markets in the future.

Investments in Buildings, Facilities, and New Products

Successful investments completed last year included the construction of a new sintering plant in Reutte with a total volume of 12 million euros. Ceratizit invested another 25 million euros in the new production building Kreckelmoos/Austria. In Towanda/USA and Jyväskylä/Finland, capacities for the production and recycling of tungsten powders were expanded. In addition, production capacity for carbide rods is being expanded in China and Taiwan. The Eastern European production sites of Ceratizit in Poland and Bulgaria were modernized and expanded. To meet high customer demand, Plansee is currently expanding its production capacities for medical technology and the semiconductor industry in Reutte and Franklin/USA. In total, the Plansee Group invested 254 million euros in buildings, facilities, and product development in the past fiscal year.

Acquisitions, Divestitures, and Plant Closures

With the acquisition of MiTech Metals in the USA, Plansee expanded its tungsten activities in North America. The acquisition of the French company Agricarb opens up a new market for Ceratizit: Agricarb develops and produces particularly durable carbide tools for agriculture, arable farming, and viticulture. Non-core activities such as the ceramics business in Livange/Luxembourg, tantalum production in Liezen/Austria, and the bonding shop in Sakura/Japan were successfully sold. The production site in Los Angeles was closed. The materials database Matmatch was discontinued.

Sustainability Program Gains Momentum

The implementation of the sustainability program gained momentum in the Plansee Group in the past fiscal year. The focus is on reducing the CO2 footprint. This was 300,000 tons in the base year 2020/21 in Scope 1, 2, and 3. Scope 1 and 2 account for 120,000 tons. Scope 1 includes all direct CO2 emissions of the company, such as those from the production of hydrogen from natural gas. Scope 2 includes all indirect emissions from the purchase of energy, such as electricity and gas. Scope 3 includes indirect CO2 emissions, such as those from the production of purchased raw materials and semi-finished products or the transport of goods.

Meanwhile, electricity from renewable sources is being procured at most of the group's European sites and in Shanghai. In addition, Plansee has signed a long-term contract with Linde for the supply of green hydrogen. The insights gained from this pilot project are to be used at other sites in the future. Ceratizit tested the first products with an extremely low CO2 footprint on the market, which are mostly made from recycled tungsten. The proportion of recycled tungsten in the group was 74 percent in the past fiscal year.

Outlook

Since July 1, the Plansee Group has had new corporate management. Andreas Lackner, Ulrich Lausecker, and Andreas Schwenninger joined the board, and the previous board spokesman Karlheinz Wex became CEO. With cross-sectional responsibility for important corporate functions such as production, processes, procurement, quality, and logistics, the company has created the conditions for even closer cooperation within the group.

For the current fiscal year, which started on March 1, the board of the Plansee Group expects a further recovery of the aerospace industry, stable demand from the mechanical engineering and semiconductor industries, and increasing orders from medical technology. On the other hand, there is declining demand in individual industries and regions and high inventories in the supply chain.

In addition, Plansee intends to continue to vigorously advance all projects to optimize production and processes and to leverage group-wide synergies to offset sharply rising personnel, energy, and other procurement costs.

The consolidated key figures of the Plansee Group at a glance