Ivo Chmelík, a metallurgist at heart, has worked in managerial positions in many metallurgical companies. He relies on sound judgment and lifestyle in his personal life. As a Beskydy patriot, he is a hiker. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive Director of GO Steel a.s., part of the Polish capital group Stalprodukt S.A
You are one of the world’s leading producers of cold-rolled steel with a rich history in the Moravian-Silesian region. In what sectors can your products be used?
Indeed, our history began during the Industrial Revolution in 1833, when several smelters were established in our region, thanks to local iron ore and hard coal, which began to replace charcoal. The Industrial Revolution brought rapid development to the metallurgical industry, and the Frýdek-Místek Rolling Mills have always been an innovator in the introduction of new technologies. Thus, we have gone from an iron forging mill for forging iron to today’s world producer of grain oriented electrical steels with an oriented grain structure, the so-called transformer steel. We have been producing this product since the 1960s, and it is the primary input material for the cores of power and distribution transformers, reactors and other electrical devices with magnetic circuits. Apart from this product, we also produce low carbon and deep-drawn cold rolled coils and strips steels, which can be found, for example, in profile steel products in the furniture industry, switchboard cabinets, various structures in the construction industry as well as in coupling lamellas, saw blades, springs and many other engineering products.
You are part of the Polish capital group Stalprodukt. How is the cooperation within the group, and what are your business goals in the Czech market?
Stalprodukt Capital Group has a 30-year history and is a very important steel group in Poland, producing around 400,000 tonnes of steel products per year. The company is divided into several segments: electrical sheets, steel profiles and tubes, zinc, lead and other service companies. Our company is a major supplier to the profiles and tubes segment. Within the electrical steel segment, we collaborate on production technology solutions as well as steel strip cutting. In the Czech market, we mainly sell cold rolled steel strips. More than 90% of our electrical steel is exported.
Your company and the entire Stalprodukt Group are strongly innovative with a positive approach to the environment. Hydrogen is an integral part of the production programme, and its applicability in transport is up to date. Are you also considering the implementation of hydrogen in the Czech market?
We are one of the largest consumers of hydrogen in the Czech Republic. We use hydrogen in the steelmaking process as an element of the reducing protective atmosphere, where it plays an irreplaceable role. We get our hydrogen supplies from our parent company in Poland. At present, we do not foresee any use of hydrogen other than technological use.
Thank you for the interview.
