Based in Turkey, Meko Metal is a leading advocate for Magnelis®, actively promoting the highly advanced coating with its global customer base. Meko Metal uses Magnelis® to create profiles and tubes which are utilised in: solar support structures; greenhouses; agricultural applications such as chicken farms; prefabricated housing; and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) applications. To ensure that their customers can access Magnelis® quickly, Meko Metal maintains its own high stock levels of the coated steel in Turkey.

Convincing major customers

Meko Metal launched a campaign to ensure their customers are aware of the benefits of Magnelis® for their various applications. They began “by branding Magnelis® as ‘MekoMag,’” says Serkan Gürler, Vice President of the KMC Group that acquired Meko Metal about ten years ago. Working in collaboration with ArcelorMittal on co-marketing materials, Meko Metal is dedicated to sharing the advantages of Magnelis®.

Meko Metal’s efforts have seen Magnelis® being adopted by customers in many different industries. “We work with a major global company active in the construction, energy, and manufacturing industries,” says Serkan Gürler. “After eight months of tests and discussions they switched around a third of their products to Magnelis® as a trial. After seeing the benefits of this unique coating, they now request Magnelis® in most applications.”

As well as being easier to work with than hot dip galvanised material, Magnelis® offers long-term protection against corrosion in many applications. “For our customers in the solar industry, ArcelorMittal’s guarantee on Magnelis® of up to 25 years is extremely interesting,” says Serkan Gürler. “It assures them they will be able to obtain an adequate return on their investment.”

Magnelis® stocks reduce lead times

With demand for Magnelis® being very strong, Meko Metal decided to stockpile the material to ensure they can offer customers very short lead times. Meko Metal now receives coils of Magnelis® coated material directly from ArcelorMittal’s mills in Bremen, Germany; Liège, Belgium; and Avilés, Spain. “If we cannot supply Magnelis® within their deadlines, many customers will consider galvanised steel instead,” explains Serkan Gürler, “but thanks to our warehouse of material, we can offer customers just-in-time deliveries. We also provide this service for ArcelorMittal’s HyPer® high strength structural steels.”

Dedicated R&D capabilities

Another focus for the company is on research and development. Meko Metal has its own in-house tooling facility which gives the company great flexibility and accelerates its R&D activities. During 2020, Meko Metal completed a €3 million investment in a 46-station roll forming line dedicated to R&D. The line can handle material up to 4 mm thick and is used to process steels including S700MC, HyPer® grades, and the dual-phase grade DP1180.

The line is used in conjunction with Copra FA optimisation software, as Serkan Gürler explains: “The software is a great way to show customers how their designs can be realised, but they still want to handle the material. The new roll forming line enables us to provide them with real-life samples which they can use to test their own systems and products.”

About Meko Metal

Meko Metal was established in 1969 in Izmir, Turkey. Today the business is a part of the KMC Group and employs almost 200 people at their 80 000 m2 production facility in Turkey. This includes an R&D department with six engineers who work on optimising Meko Metal’s processes and developing new products. Meko Metal exports its products to Africa, the EU, the Caribbean, China, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Russia, the UK, and the US.

More info: mekometal.com.tr

ArcelorMittal Orange Book

Meko Metal is also utilising ArcelorMittal’s Orange Book, a website dedicated to helping design engineers to reduce the weight of their structures and optimise the structural, environmental, and economic performance of profiles made with ArcelorMittal’s high strength steels.

Text:
ArcelorMittal Europe Communications
Constructalia

Images and video:
Meko Metal

Related link(s)

Meko Metal

The Royal Dutch Mint building, known as the Dutch Vault, in Houten in the Netherlands has won the People’s Choice Award at the 2020 Infosteel Steel Construction Competition. The spectacular facade for this iconic building was made with high-gloss Granite® Silky Shine from ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products.

Steel Construction Competition

Infosteel announced the winners of their 2020 Steel Construction Competition on 22 February 2021. Held annually, the competition is in its 21st year. Participation is open to any new construction or renovation built totally or partially in steel on Belgian soil. Projects outside of Belgium are eligible provided that a significant part of the project was headquartered in Belgium, as was the case for the Dutch Vault.

In addition to award categories of non-residential, residential, specific steel elements, and industrial buildings, the People’s Choice Award has been a part of Infosteel’s Steel Construction Competition for several years. More than 2700 people voted, selecting the Dutch Vault as their steel building of choice for 2020.

Facetted cladding with Granite® Silky Shine

The exterior of the Royal Dutch Mint building resembles a safe with almost no visible opening. The unique design was inspired by the relief particular to the euro coins minted in the Netherlands. The cladding of this golden facade is made up of profiled and prepainted steel sheets (Isis 55-120/7 triangular profiles fabricated by ArcelorMittal Construction using prepainted Granite® Silky Shine Gold 50µm steel from ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products) which have been placed in different directions with the vertical and horizontal layers coming together to form the facetted facade. The Granite® Silky Shine facade is attached to the concrete building using a substructure made with Magnelis®, also from ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products.

Text:
Constructalia

Images:
SWAD Video
LT Photography

Government incentives and lower infrastructure costs are driving the boom in solar energy across Eastern Europe. Magnelis®, from ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products, is increasing the attractiveness of solar for investors as it extends the lifespan of solar farms. Two of Poland’s largest manufacturers of photovoltaic support systems are Energy5 and Corab. Both use Magnelis® to create long-lasting solar farms which will generate clean energy for decades to come. In solar farm applications, ArcelorMittal offers long-term guarantees on Magnelis® of up to 25 years. This ensures that new solar farms will provide an adequate return on the investment over their lifetime. Both Corab and Energy5 are using the advantages of Magnelis® to move beyond Poland and explore opportunities in nearby countries, and even further afield.

Magnelis®: “a game changer”

For Energy5, the Magnelis® success story began in 2016 when the company’s senior leadership met ArcelorMittal’s commercial and technical teams to share their vision for Magnelis® in solar structures. “We had tested Magnelis® at the Institute of Precision Mechanics in Warsaw, Poland,” explains Piotr Żbikowski, President of the Energy5 Management Board. “But a meeting with ArcelorMittal confirmed the outstanding corrosion resistance of Magnelis®. We knew it would be a game changer.”

Around the same time, Corab learnt about Magnelis® through its close relationship with ArcelorMittal Downstream Solutions Poland. “At Corab, we decided to utilise Magnelis® for its strength, exceptional anti-corrosion properties, self-healing on cut edges, and long guarantees,” says Henryk Biały, CEO of Corab. “Magnelis® is now the backbone of our installations and one of our main competitive advantages.”

The experience of both companies proves that the market requirements for durable structures and increasingly higher guarantees continue to grow. Therefore, they look to more advanced, high strength steels with even more durable metallic coatings.

Lighter and stronger photovoltaic solutions

Henryk Biały believes that Magnelis® has completely changed the solar industry in Eastern Europe. “Thanks to Magnelis®, solar systems have become lighter, stronger, and more resistant to mechanical and chemical damage. Traditional galvanised products have much lower corrosion resistance. To achieve a similar level of performance to Magnelis®, the zinc coating would have to be very thick, making the structure much heavier.”

The exceptional features of Magnelis® have enabled Corab’s photovoltaic systems to become more competitive on the international market. The company has now installed systems in 18 European countries, with a total capacity of more than 500 megawatts (MW) in the first half of 2020.

In 2020, Energy5 provided Magnelis® support structures for the largest photovoltaic plant connected in Poland to date. “This solar farm will have the capacity to produce approximately 50 MW of energy,” notes Piotr Żbikowski. “We are completing other complex solar projects, including an investment in Hungary. This project involves the construction of a photovoltaic power plant across four locations. When completed, it will have a total capacity of 80 MW.”

Production and product development support

Both Energy5 and Corab rely on support and new product development from ArcelorMittal to get the most out of Magnelis®. “We worked with ArcelorMittal to ensure the properties of Magnelis® are not affected during production,” says Henryk Biały. “As our designs meet their recommendations, ArcelorMittal can guarantee the corrosion protection of the Magnelis® we process.”

“We set new trends by constantly looking for innovative solutions that will allow us to deliver the safest photovoltaic mounting systems on the market,” says Piotr Żbikowski. “Energy5 is one of the first customers to test innovations in Magnelis® on different steels. Once these solutions are fully commercialised, we will be able to meet the growing demand from the market for solar structures with optimised structures and even better durability.”

Energy5

Energy5 is an international supplier of ground-mounted solar systems, roof and facade systems, and freestanding systems for parking spaces (AUTOBOX). The company provides individual and optimised design selection. Thanks to the high quality of their systems and comprehensive service (confirmed, for example, by TÜV Rheinland and national research institutes), the company has been able to expand their operations in Central and Eastern Europe.

Energy5 currently operates two production plants which supply fixing systems for photovoltaic modules to clients in Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. The company’s manufacturing plants include five computer-controlled lines which enable Energy5 to fulfil orders quickly and produce special projects tailored to a client’s requirements.

More info: www.energy5.pl

Corab

Corab has specialised in the production of steel and aluminium products and traded in electronic parts for nearly three decades. This experience has made the company a leader in the manufacturing of solar energy systems in Europe and beyond. Production takes place in a modern plant which uses automatic processes, supervised by a specialised staff of nearly 250 people. Corab’s systems have passed numerous laboratory and strength tests which confirm their quality and safety. Systems bear the CE mark, confirming they comply with European standards.

More info: corab.eu

Text:
ArcelorMittal Europe Communications
Constructalia

Images:
Energy5
Corab