Badische Stahlwerke GmbH

Badische Stahlwerke GmbH (BSW) is a German steel producer based in Kehl, Baden-Württemberg, located on the peninsula between the Kinzig and Rhine rivers and connected to the Kehl railway station via the port railway. It is the only steelworks in Baden-Württemberg and produces steel from scrap using two electric arc furnaces, mainly for reinforcement in the construction industry. Its core products are reinforcing steel in bar and coil, wire rod, continuous-cast billets and reinforcement products such as reinforcing steel mats. The company traces its origins to 1955, when the entrepreneur Willy Korf founded Süddeutsche Drahtverarbeitungs-GmbH at the transport-favourable site in the Kehl Rhine port. After further investments, the company received its current name, Badische Stahlwerke AG (BSW), in 1968, the same year two electric arc furnaces, two continuous casting plants and an additional rolling mill went into operation. Since then, the BSW name has stood for high quality and technical innovation. In April 2025, following a merger of the Van Merksteijn Steel Group and Südwest Beteiligungen, BSW became part of the so-called RSE Group, whose parent company is Reinforcing Steel Europe B.V., headquartered in Almelo. BSW's annual steel production was around 1.9 million tonnes in 2014, roughly 5% of German steel production, and with just under 1,429 employees it is among the world's most productive steelworks by output per worker. In 1968 annual production had been only about 150,000 tonnes. The company has invested in expanding capacity, energy efficiency and decarbonisation, including a 2019 plan to recover waste heat for wood pellet production in Kehl and the Strasbourg district heating network, and a 2024 research cooperation with Badische Stahl-Engineering and RWTH Aachen on flexible use of hydrogen and ammonia with natural gas for industrial ladle preheating.

The company emerged from Süddeutsche Drahtverarbeitungs-GmbH, founded in 1955 by Willy Korf at a transport-favourable location in the Kehl Rhine port. In 1966 Korf started a rolling mill, initially having to buy the input material, the billets, from outside. In 1968 two electric arc furnaces, two continuous casting plants and another rolling mill went into operation; at the same time the company received its current name, Badische Stahlwerke AG. In November 2009 the Freiburg regional council approved an increase in production from 2.2 million to 2.8 million tonnes of steel. In the following years investments of up to 300 million euros were planned, including a new power supply, a new electric arc furnace and new ladle furnaces. Already in spring 2008, as part of the investment programme, a new gate, a new vehicle workshop and a new shift base were inaugurated for about 5 million euros. At the beginning of 2009 a new cooling bed for one of the continuous casting plants followed for 5.5 million euros. The Badische Stahlwerke are members of the Verband der Saarhütten and the Wirtschaftsverband Industrieller Unternehmen Baden. In 2019 plans became known to recover part of the steelworks' waste heat and use it energetically. The waste heat was to be used both for the production of wood pellets in Kehl and to feed the district heating network of Strasbourg. In a first expansion phase, 35 GWh of heat were to be used for pellet production and 45 GWh for the Strasbourg district heating network, with further customers to be connected later. For this purpose, the steelworks and the cities of Kehl and Strasbourg signed a declaration of intent in May 2019. On 2 July 2024 a cooperation agreement was signed between BSW, Badische Stahl-Engineering (BSE) and RWTH Aachen. The research project aims at the flexible use of hydrogen with natural gas as well as ammonia with natural gas for industrial ladle preheating. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action with a total of 2.36 million euros over three years. In April 2025, following a merger of the Van Merksteijn Steel Group and Südwest Beteiligungen, BSW became part of the so-called RSE Group, whose parent company is Reinforcing Steel Europe B.V., headquartered in Almelo.

• 2025

  Following the merger of Van Merksteijn Steel Group and Südwest Beteiligungen, BSW becomes part of the RSE Group under Reinforcing Steel Europe B.V.

• 2024

  Cooperation agreement signed with Badische Stahl-Engineering and RWTH Aachen on flexible use of hydrogen and ammonia with natural gas for ladle preheating.

• 2019

  Declaration of intent signed with Kehl and Strasbourg to recover waste heat for wood pellet production and the Strasbourg district heating network.

• 2009

  New cooling bed for a continuous casting plant commissioned for 5.5 million euros; Freiburg regional council approves production increase to 2.8 million tonnes.

• 2008

  New gate, vehicle workshop and shift base inaugurated for about 5 million euros.

• 1968

  Two electric arc furnaces, two continuous casting plants and another rolling mill go into operation; the company is renamed Badische Stahlwerke AG.

• 1966

  Korf starts a rolling mill, initially buying billets externally.

• 1955

  Willy Korf founds Süddeutsche Drahtverarbeitungs-GmbH in the Kehl Rhine port.

High-quality steel and technical innovation; among the world's most productive steelworks by output per employee.

• Reinforcing steel in bar and coil

  High-quality BSW reinforcing steel in bar and coil.

• Wire rod

  Smooth or ribbed BSW wire rod; accounts for about two thirds of the rolling mills' total volume.

• Continuous-cast billets

  Produced in the steelworks on two continuous casting plants; input material for the bar and wire rod mills.

• Reinforcement products

  Reinforcement products from the corporate group, mainly used in reinforced concrete construction and demanded throughout Europe.

1. 1Home - Badische Stahlwerkebsw-kehl.de
2. 2Badische Stahlwerke Aktiengesellschaft - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Badische Stahlwerke - Wikipediade.wikipedia.org