SSAB is taking over Tibnor's company in Poland. The takeover constitutes a step in strengthening SSAB's position in Central and Eastern Europe by further developing the company's service offering.

Mr Mikael Nolborg head of Value Added Services within SSAB’s EMEA business area said that "By combining SSAB's and Tibnor's strengths, we can create an even stronger foothold on the market in a strategically important part of Europe."

SSAB is obtaining an opportunity to grow further on an expanding market and the investment will also support the introduction of new directly quenched hot rolled products on the market. In total, the new company in Poland will have some 40 employees and be based primarily in Wroclaw and Warszawa.

Mr Mikael Nolborg said that "With a strong service offering and a joint team lineup, we will be able to better meet and satisfy the customer's needs. Wroclaw will become our portal to Central and Eastern Europe, where we can offer further developed distribution, processing, as well as advanced solutions."

The formal takeover will take place on April 1st 2011.