In 2017, around 1.9 million tonnes of steel were batch galvanized in Germany. About 80 percent of that volume is done by sub-contact ‘jobbing’ galvanizing. There are about 147 galvanizing plants in Germany - with a total kettle volume of 5500 cubic meters. The industry employs approximately 4800 employees and has a turnover of around 760 million euros. For those people interested in zinc demand, 110,000 tonnes of zinc were used in 2017 by the German batch galvanizing industry.
Batch galvanizing plants in Germany are, from a technical point of view, at a very high level. Technologies for reducing, purifying, recycling and recirculating air, water, waste and heat have long been the standard in Germany.
The largest batch galvanizing plants in Germany have kettles with a length of 19.5 m. The wide variety of sizes and locations of galvanizing kettles serves a very diverse range of customers that is dominated by the construction sector. The market segments of the German galvanizing industry in terms of galvanized tonnage (%) are shown below:
Typical products of the German batch galvanizing industry include highway safety barriers balcony railings, stairways, car trailers, truck semi-trailers, steel constructions, modern steel and glass architecture and parking garages. In recent years, innovative architectural applications such as use of batch galvanized plates for facades have contributed to some interesting new applications for the industry. Other new initiatives are aimed at expanding the use of batch galvanizing for highway bridges.
Industrieverband Feuerverzinken e.V. and its associated organizations
The Industrieverband Feuerverzinken e.V. (IFV) is based in Düsseldorf and is the galvanizers association that represents the German batch galvanizing plants and its supporting members. The association and its service organization, the Institut Feuerverzinken GmbH, represent the economic and technical interests of the German hot dip galvanizing industry to the public, politicians, authorities, process users, consumers and scientific institutions. The duties of the organisations include:
The association was founded in 1958, so has its 60th anniversary in 2018. Today, the association has 107 members.
The Institut Feuerverzinken GmbH, as subsidiary and service organization of the industry association is active for the hot dip galvanizing industry in the areas of marketing and technology. The Gemeinschaftsausschuss Verzinken (GAV) is the research organisation of German galvanizing industry. The main task of GAV is organizing and coordinating joint research in the product, process and application technology for hot dip galvanizing. This is done in cooperation with leading universities in Germany.
Offer for galvanizers from outside of Germany: Become an Official Partner
It is now possible galvanizers from outside Germany to become an Official Partner of the Institut Feuerverzinken. Official Partners can benefit from a wide range of services:
