Tata Steel's Service Center Maastricht subsidiary in the Netherlands is to commission a large heavy gauge decoiler by the end of 2014 which will serve the growing markets in Europe for high strength steels, especially in the Lifting & Excavating sector.

The decoiler is to be installed at the Feijen heavy gauge decoiling business at Maastricht. It will be able to decoil and cut-to-length hot rolled coil up to 25mm thick, 2,600mm wide and in premium grades, including the Ympress® high-strength low-alloy range.

Jens Lauber, Managing Director of Tata Steel's Distribution Mainland Europe business, said: "What we're hearing from our customers and from the market generally is that there's an increasing need for steel processors to be offering premium high-strength sheet. In practice, for heavy gauge decoilers, this means they want increased thicknesses, improved flatness quality and sheet that's been processed from coils made of higher-strength steels."

The volumes of throughput handled at Maastricht will remain much the same following a reconfiguration of the Feijen decoiling business in which several older decoilers will be dismantled. This will result in a new, more efficient heavy gauge decoiling service at Maastricht with an enhanced product range.

Jens Lauber said: "The new Maastricht decoiling configuration will be highly efficient operationally. Together with our other European operations, Maastricht's Feijen service centre will form part of a high-quality distribution service for the European heavy gauge market, uniquely offering the full range of hot rolled flat products, including reversing mill plate, as well as tailored service packages to meet individual customer requirements."

Tata Steel's distribution and service centres make up the second largest distribution and service network in Europe, in terms of regional coverage. The Distribution Mainland Europe network is now aligned based on client end markets and the light or heavy gauge product group offered. As a result the entire sales organisation is now focused on specific market sectors, for example Automotive, Construction and Lifting and Excavating. Customers get access to Tata Steel's comprehensive product range of standard and advanced steel products and client specific processing services. The changes will further improve service levels, with the material supply reaching the customer from the best qualified and closest Tata Steel distribution location.

About Tata Steel's European operations
Tata Steel is Europe's second largest steel producer, with steelmaking in the UK and Netherlands, and manufacturing plants across Europe. The company supplies products and services to the most demanding markets, including construction, automotive, packaging, rail, lifting & excavating, energy & power and aerospace. The combined Tata Steel group is one of the world's largest steel producers, with a steel capacity of 29 million tonnes and 80,000 employees across four continents.