What Ferro Duo does

Ferro Duo GmbH is a German circular economy company founded in 2003 and headquartered in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, that processes industrial by-products and waste streams from the steel, cement, and chemical industries into secondary raw materials and industrial chemical products. Its product portfolio spans ferrous sulfate variants (Ferro Mono 30 DU, Ferro Mono 12, Ferro Green, Ferro Hepta 20, Ferro Aqua T/S), iron chloride (Ferro Clorid S 14), iron oxides at 74-98% Fe content, calcium aluminate slag, fly ash, granulated blast furnace slag and slag flour, and magnesium sulfate (FD Kieserite 27-20, Magnosiet K17), together with technical solutions such as bypass dust purification, calcined clay production, blast furnace slag grinding, concrete phase-separation recycling, oily mill scale treatment, blast furnace gas slurry processing, electric/oxygen steel mill dust treatment, iron sulfate synthesis from spent pickling liquor and TiO₂ leach solutions, sewage sludge pyrolysis with phosphate recovery, magnesium sulfate from weak sulfuric acid, red gypsum valorization, rare earth extraction, and wind turbine blade pyrolysis.

The business is built on a portfolio of patented and licensed processes, many co-developed with BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung) and VDZ (Verein deutscher Zementwerke e.V.), giving Ferro Duo both technological defensibility and alignment with EU regulatory frameworks including the Green Deal, Fit for 55, CSRD, EU Directive 2003/53/EC on chromate reduction in cement, and Germany's mandatory phosphate recycling law. Revenue is generated through two streams: industrial by-product trading (buying waste from steel mills, cement plants, chemical plants, and power stations, processing it via proprietary methods, and selling recovered materials back into cement, steel, chemical, and agricultural markets) and toll/contract processing services (toll granulation, drying, filling/silging, mixing/sieving, storage, and waste disposal) performed at company-owned facilities in Duisburg and Piombino. Distribution is direct B2B with a quote-based pricing model, supported by wholly-owned subsidiaries in Italy (FERRO DUO Italia s.r.l., Piombino and Milan), the United States (FERRO DUO US Inc., Edmond, Oklahoma), and the United Kingdom (FERRO DUO UK LTD., Birmingham), plus cooperation partners in Spain and China. The company is privately held and managed by two Managing Directors, Alexander Kehrmann and Marcus Cleff, with no disclosed external institutional ownership.

Name

Ferro Duo

Legal name

FERRO DUO GmbH

Website

https://ferroduo.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ferro Duo GmbH is a German circular economy company that processes industrial by-products and waste from the steel, cement, and chemical sectors into secondary raw materials—including ferrous sulfate, iron oxides, slags, and magnesium sulfate—sold via direct B2B channels to industrial and agricultural customers across Europe, North America, and Asia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Waste Recycling

NAICS

Materials Recovery Facilities (562920), Secondary Smelting, Refining, and Alloying of Nonferrous Metal (except Copper and Aluminum) (331492), Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Smelting and Refining (33141)

SIC

Secondary Smelting & Refining Of Nonferrous Metals (3341), Wholesale-Metals & Minerals (No Petroleum) (5050)

akta.pro primary industry

Metals Recycling & Processing (Ferrous/Non-Ferrous) (BPALADAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Non-Ferrous Scrap Processing & Recycling (Aluminum, Copper, Brass, Lead, Zinc) (EUAIAJAB), Construction & Demolition (C&D) Metal Recycling (Structural Steel, Rebar, Roofing, Wire) (IMAKAMAF), Ferrous Scrap Processing & Recycling (Steel/Iron) (EUAIAJAA), Metal Melting & Secondary Smelting/Refining (Recycled Feedstock Producers) (EUAIAJAJ)

Keywords

• Industrial waste recycling
• Circular economy services
• By-product processing
• Iron sulfate products
• Cement industry materials

Headquarters

HQ city

Duisburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Industrial By-Product Trading and Sales: Ferro Duo buys, processes, and sells industrial by-products and waste materials including iron sulfates, iron chlorides, iron oxides, slags, fly ash, and gypsum. The company acts as a certified disposal specialist, purchasing by-products from steel mills, cement plants, chemical plants, and power stations, processing them through their proprietary methods, and selling the recovered materials back into the cement, steel, chemical, and agricultural industries. Products include Ferro Mono 30 DU, Ferro Mono 12 Powder, Ferro Green, Ferro Aqua T/S, Ferro Chloride S 14, and various slag and oxide products.
2. Toll/Contract Processing Services: Ferro Duo provides fee-based processing services including toll granulation, toll drying, toll filling/silging, mixing/sieving, and waste disposal. Services are offered at their Duisburg and Piombino facilities. Customers pay for specific processing steps performed on their materials, with Ferro Duo handling control sieving and analytics. The company also offers storage services at its Duisburg external port facility with 6,000 m² of covered storage area and 18,000 m³ of total storage volume.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ferro Duo processes and recycles industrial by-products and waste materials from the cement, steel, and chemical industries into high-quality secondary raw materials. Using patented washing, thermal, and chemical treatment technologies, the company recovers and sells iron sulfates, iron chlorides, iron oxides, slags, fly ash, magnesium sulfate, and rare earths. It also operates toll-processing facilities for granulation, drying, storage, mixing/sieving, and certified waste disposal at locations in Germany, Italy, the USA, and the UK.

Product overview

Ferro Duo is an industrial recycling and circular economy company offering a diverse portfolio of chemical products and technical processing solutions. The core product portfolio includes ferrous sulfate products (Ferro Mono, Ferro Green, Ferro Aqua series), iron chloride (Ferro Clorid S 14), fly ash, slags (Eisensilikat S, FD Hüttensand), iron oxides (Eisenoxid 74-98), and magnesium sulfate (FD Kieserite, Magnosiet). These are supplemented by technical solutions for industrial waste processing including bypass dust treatment, calcined clay production, blast furnace slag processing, concrete recycling, oily mill scale treatment, blast furnace gas slurry processing, electric steel dust treatment, ferrous sulfate synthesis, sewage sludge pyrolysis, rare earth recovery, and wind turbine blade recycling. The company operates services including contract granulation, drying, storage, mixing/sieving, and waste disposal across locations in Germany (Duisburg, Münster), Italy (Piombino), USA, and UK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ferrous Sulfate Products (Ferro Mono, Ferro Green, Ferro Aqua, Ferro Hepta) Ferrous sulfate product range for cement, agriculture, water management, and biogas industries; for chromate reduction, chlorosis treatment, and water/wastewater precipitation applications.
• Iron(II) Chloride (Ferro Clorid S 14) Iron(II) chloride product for water treatment and biogas production, used as a precipitating agent for phosphate elimination and hydrogen sulfide removal.
• Fly Ash (Flugasche) Fly ash recovered from power plant combustion, used as supplementary cementitious material in cement and concrete to reduce CO2 emissions.
• Slag Products (Eisensilikat S, FD Hüttensandmehl, FD Hüttensand) Iron silicate slag, ground granulated blast furnace slag, and granulated blast furnace slag supplied to cement/concrete industry and road construction as supplementary cementitious materials.
• Calcium Aluminate Slag (FD Calciuminatschlacke 65) Calcium aluminate slag containing approximately 65% aluminum oxide recovered from secondary aluminum production and used in cement clinker manufacturing.
• Iron Oxide Products (Eisenoxid 74, 85, 87, 98) Iron oxide grades (74%, 85%, 87%, 98% iron content) recovered from steel industry for use as iron ore substitutes in steel production and as raw materials in cement.
• Magnesium Sulfate (FD Kieserite 27-20, Magnosiet K17) Magnesium sulfate monohydrate (kieserite) products supplied as fertilizer for magnesium and sulfur plant nutrition and chlorophyll formation.
• Toll/Contract Processing Services Fee-based contract processing services including toll granulation, toll drying, toll filling/silging, mixing/sieving, storage, and certified waste disposal offered at Ferro Duo's own facilities.
• Certified Waste Disposal Services Certified disposal specialist (Entsorgungsfachbetrieb) services for industrial by-products and waste streams, including ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 50001 and GMP+ FSA certified operations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Bypass dust purification: recovered cement raw material is CO2-free as it has already been calcined; heavy metal removal enables fertilizer-grade mixed salt production (potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, sodium chloride)
• +4 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• EIT Raw Materials ScaVanger ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Ferro Duo is a participant in the EIT Raw Materials project ScaVanger, which is in its startup phase. This EU-backed initiative focuses on sustainable raw materials recovery and aligns with Ferro Duo's circular economy mission.
• EURO-TITAN ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Ferro Duo is involved in the EURO-TITAN project (2024-2027), which aims to recover decarbonized titanium from aluminum oxide and residues from titanium production. This project represents a strategic R&D initiative in critical raw materials recovery.
• BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFerro Duo collaborates with the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) on multiple patented processes, including blast furnace gas slurry processing, electric steel mill dust purification, and other thermal treatment technologies. BAM's research expertise complements Ferro Duo's industrial processing capabilities.
• VDZ (Verein deutscher Zementwerke e.V.)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFerro Duo partners with the German Cement Works Association (VDZ) to investigate clay mineralogy for calcined clay production. VDZ's accredited laboratories conduct mineralogical analysis, and Ferro Duo performs calcination in an indirectly heated rotary kiln to produce pozzolanic materials for low-CO2 cement.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Befesa SA: Befesa is a Luxembourg-listed environmental services company that recycles steel dust and salt slags to recover zinc and other metals. It is the most direct comparable to Ferro Duo's electric steel mill dust processing and zinc concentrate recovery operations, serving the same steel industry customers with similar circular-economy solutions.
• Metallo Group (Aurubis subsidiary): Metallo is a Belgian non-ferrous metals recycler (now part of Aurubis) that recovers tin, lead, copper, and other metals from industrial residues. Comparable to Ferro Duo's chemical industry by-product recovery, particularly in processing leach solutions and producing secondary metal products.
• Speira GmbH: Speira is a German aluminum recycling and rolling company (formerly Trimet's aluminum operations, formerly Hydro). Comparable to Ferro Duo's aluminum oxide and calcium aluminate slag recovery products serving the cement industry with circular aluminum by-products.
• Scholz Recycling GmbH: Scholz is one of Europe's largest metal recyclers, processing ferrous and non-ferrous scrap across multiple sites. Comparable to Ferro Duo in metals recovery and processing infrastructure, serving steel mills and industrial customers with recycled raw materials.
• Cronimet Holding GmbH: Cronimet is a German family-owned metal recycling and trading company specializing in ferrous and non-ferrous scrap. Comparable to Ferro Duo as a metals recycling and trading operator with deep European steel industry relationships and similar toll-processing business models.

Broad incumbents

• REMONDIS SE & Co. KG: REMONDIS is one of the world's largest privately-held waste management and recycling companies, with extensive metals recycling operations. A broader incumbent that competes in similar waste processing and recycled commodity markets, though with a much more diversified service portfolio.
• Harsco Corporation: Harsco provides environmental and on-site services to steel mills including by-product handling and slag processing. Comparable to Ferro Duo's steel industry services (mill scale, blast furnace slurry processing) though Harsco operates as an on-site industrial services provider at much larger scale.
• TRIMET Aluminium SE: TRIMET produces primary and recycled aluminum, including aluminum oxide and alloys from secondary feedstocks. Comparable to Ferro Duo in recycled aluminum by-product valorization, though TRIMET operates at much larger integrated scale across multiple foundries.
• Aurubis AG: Aurubis is Europe's largest copper smelter and a major recycler of copper and precious metals. A broader incumbent that overlaps with Ferro Duo in non-ferrous metals recovery from industrial by-products, though at significantly larger scale and focused on copper primary feedstock.

Others

• Heidelberg Materials AG: Heidelberg Materials is a global cement, aggregates, and ready-mixed concrete producer. Comparable as a major customer and partner-type peer for Ferro Duo's calcined clays, iron oxides, fly ash, and bypass dust processing solutions for the cement industry; also a potential acquirer of circular economy capabilities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInde.linkedin.com/company/ferro-duo-gmbh

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ferro Duo