Techcom Acquires Adria Steel and Adria Ironworks

The German engineering group Techcom, a supplier of technologies in the metallurgy segment and owner of over 300 patents in the field of steel production and processing, has fully acquired shares in Adria Steel and Adria Ironworks from the C.I.O.S. group.

Techcom provides technological and engineering support to metallurgical manufacturers, particularly steelworks, in all segments and components of plant modernization. The patents owned by Techcom achieve improvements in product quality and savings in energy and materials, as well as a higher degree of environmental protection.

– For the C.I.O.S. group, as the most significant holder of scrap iron in Croatia, it was crucial to market their product, scrap iron, to the ironworks and thereby initiate production while preserving jobs by employing an optimal number of workers, mainly from the former Split Ironworks – stated Petar Pripuz, Croatian co-owner of the C.I.O.S. group, adding that by early June, 273 people were employed, and now, when they are confident that C.I.O.S.’s entrepreneurial venture is on its feet and that production has been revitalized and capacities have been renewed and modernized, they are freeing up capital for investment in new production projects.

With this project, he continued, they have ensured that they achieve exactly what they wanted from the beginning – to revitalize the metal production chain so that further processing of secondary raw materials obtained from recycling remains in Croatia. In other words, to retain the production of finished products in Croatia instead of exporting raw materials and importing finished products, as has been the case so far.

Part of the land of the former Split Ironworks remains owned by C.I.O.S. and will be used for the core business activity of the C.I.O.S. group – the collection and processing of iron and steel waste and special categories of waste (end-of-life vehicles, large household appliances, waste tires, Al/Fe packaging) – in compliance with all EU and Croatian environmental protection standards.
A new modern recycling center for the collection and processing of metal waste is being established by CE-ZA-R Recycling Center, a member of the C.I.O.S. group, as there is no appropriate facility in southern Croatia for comprehensive management of metal waste in accordance with EU directives.
With the establishment of the new recycling center, the C.I.O.S. group expects to employ an additional 30 workers, of which 14 employees are already employed at the CE-ZA-R Recycling Center.

The C.I.O.S. group currently employs 1,600 people in the region, over 900 of whom are in Croatia. It processes 850,000 tons of metal waste annually at more than 80 locations where recycling centers are located. Strategic guidelines for further development at the level of the C.I.O.S. group are focused, among other things, on stepping up the collection and processing of other types of waste (paper, wood, plastic, wastewater, municipal waste, etc.) and on energy production from waste (waste to energy).