SSAB Starts Building Oxelösund Quenching Line, Adding 100,000 Tonnes of Premium Wear Steel Capacity
SSAB has started building a new quenching line at Oxelösund, Sweden, investing about 310 million USD (SEK 3.3 billion) to add roughly 100,000 tonnes per year of advanced wear and protection steel capacity, mainly Hardox and Armox grades, targeting 2030 output. The project deepens SSAB's tilt toward high value specialty steels for industrial, safety and defence uses, shifting its mix away from commoditised volumes. Near term it does little for demand, pricing or Q3 2026 results; European construction and automotive steel remain the main swing factors. The key risk: soft demand and import pressure squeeze margins while SSAB carries heavy transformation capex. Q3 2026 results are due 28 October.