Investment in China: Waelzholz acquires 100% of the shares in the joint venture

Waelzholz has been operating its own service center in China since 2007 and has gradually established a successful market presence there. In addition to the establishment of the joint venture with our long-standing partner KERN LIEBERS, a key factor in this was the opening of our own cold-rolling mill in 2014. By taking this step, Waelzholz has systematically expanded the facility to enable full-scale local production of cold-rolled steel strip. One area of focus is the sorbitic-hardened and tempered SORBITEX® textured steel strip, which is used, among other purposes, in springs subjected to high stress, such as those in seat belts. 

We are now continuing our strategy to strengthen our presence in the Asian market with a targeted investment in local manufacturing infrastructure. In this way, Waelzholz is not only ensuring that it offers the same high-quality standards worldwide, but is also meeting the growing demands of its customers in China.

For Waelzholz, independence means, above all, greater operational and strategic freedom: “The decision to wind up the joint venture is the result of the extremely successful growth of both companies in China. For Waelzholz, having an autonomous and independent local presence opens up the opportunity to operate even more flexibly in the market, directly tap into new customer potential, and strategically leverage our broad range of high-performance materials,” said Henrik Caspar Junius, Chief Supply Chain Officer at the Waelzholz Group.