The world’s largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, will continue with its rail supply contract to Deutsche Bahn (DB), the German train operator, for another year.

The two companies are also co-operating on the development of new rail products.

DB will receive rails from ArcelorMittal´s production facilities in Spain and Poland, totalling an annual amount of up to 147kt or 2,500km in length.

Augustine Kochuparampil, CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products, said the company was very pleased to continue working with the German train operator.

Future deliveries include 120m rails from Dabrowa Gornicza in Poland, where ArcelorMittal produces rails at its heavy section mill, one of the few sites in the world capable of producing rails of this length, the company claims. The 120m rails are suitable for high-speed trains as they provide high safety standards due to a reduced need for welding.

ArcelorMittal started delivery of 1,200 tons of 120m rail at the beginning of September for a project to renew a 20km railroad track between Rostock and Wismar in East Germany. The line secures public transport in the region and provides the infrastructure for long-distance freight transport to and from the port in Wismar.

“Deutsche Bahn focuses on a very strong and strategic partnership with their suppliers, based on a common supplier management system. We purchase products and services in accordance with technical and commercial criteria, especially quality, logistics and costs. I believe that this is a win-win situation for both DB and ArcelorMittal. We are proud that one of the world’s largest suppliers of rails belongs to our portfolio,” said DB’s Uwe Günther, chief procurement officer.

ArcelorMittal claims to be one of the world`s largest suppliers of rails for railways, subways, tram, light tracks, crossings, crane rails and rail components. From sites in Gijón, Dabrowa Górnicza and Huta Krolewska (Poland) and Rodange (Luxembourg), it supplies rails and track fittings of the highest quality to the European market and the rest of the world.

ArcelorMittal has supplied rails for the underground and intercity railway lines for some of the largest cities in the world. In addition to the DB rail network, the company supplies rails to other European rail networks, such as ADIF (Spain), RFI (Italy) and SNCF (France).