Montanstahl specializes in the production of custom hot rolled, cold drawn and cold rolled special steel profiles in stainless steel, carbon steel and alloyed grades. This Q&A section provides detailed technical information on minimum order quantities, dimensional limits, tolerances, available materials, production technologies and related services, addressing the most common questions raised by our customers.
Minimum Order Quantities
Montanstahl’s standard minimum order quantities for hot rolled special profiles are:
- Carbon and alloyed steels: 15 tons
- Stainless steel special profiles: 5–6 tons
For specific projects, we can offer:
- 5–6 tons in carbon steel
- 2–3 tons in stainless steel
Prototypes can also be produced, depending on the requirements of your project and the technology used
Learn more about our available production technologies.
Minimum quantities for cold rolled special profiles start from:
- 100 kg, depending on shape and grade
Cold rolling is ideal for small, lightweight sections with tight tolerances.
Discover our Cold Rolled Special Profiles.
Minimum quantities for cold drawn special profiles depend on whether a hot rolled pre-shape is required.
- If a hot rolled pre-shape is needed → same MOQ as hot rolled profiles
- If not → we can offer production from just a couple of bars
Explore our Cold Drawn Special Profiles.
For normed structural profiles in stainless steel (see catalogue), Montanstahl MOQ for end customers are:
- 2’000 kg min per profile in 1.4301/1.4307 – 304/304L
- 1’000 kg min per profile in 1.4404/1.4571 – 316L/316Ti
- 5’000 kg min per inquiry in total (different profiles together)
For special laser welded profiles in carbon steel or stainless steel, Montanstahl MOQ are as little as 1 bar.
Montanstahl’s standard minimum order quantities for hot extruded special profiles are:
- Carbon and alloyed steels: 2000 Kg
- Stainless steel special profiles: 500 Kg
For new projects, where testing of the profile is required before full-scale production, Montanstahl can provide prototype bars for customer evaluation and approval prior to serial manufacturing.
Learn more about our available production technologies.
Steel Grades & Materials
We primarily manufacture:
Carbon steel grades
- S235JR
- S355J2
Stainless steel grades
- AISI 304L (1.4307)
- AISI 316L (1.4404)
- AISI 316Ti (1.4571)
which are the most popular grades on the market.
Nevertheless, we can offer special profiles in a multitude of other alloys, including:
- Alloyed steels
- Duplex stainless steels
- Titanium
- And more
See our full range of Stainless Steel, Carbon Steel and Titanium Grades available.
Yes. We produce duplex special profiles in:
- Hot rolled execution
- Cold drawn execution
- Cold rolled execution
- Extruded execution
- Laser fused execution
Learn more about Duplex Stainless Steel.
AISI 316 offers superior corrosion resistance compared to 304, especially in:
- Marine environments
- Chemical processing industries
- Mild acidic environments
Visit our Case Studies page to understand the fields of application in which they are used.
Yes.
- Brass profiles: extruded and cold worked
- Titanium profiles: mainly extruded, also small cold rolled sections
Visit our Extruded Special Profiles page for more details.
Size, Shape & Technical Limitations
For hot rolled profiles:
- Weight range: 1–10 kg/m (standard feasibility)
- 10–12 kg/m → feasibility verification required
- 12 kg/m → available via extrusion or hybrid laser fused execution
- No undercuts or holes allowed in hot rolled execution
Alternative solutions:
We can offer profiles that weight more than 12kg/m only in extruded execution or in a hybrid laser welded execution, which means producing several parts and laser fusing them together, while ensuring the highest quality of profiles.
- Minimum material thickness: 2mm
- Size range: fit in a circle of max 200 mm
- General tolerances: ±0.1 mm
- For very small sections less than 1 kg/m → often better produced in cold rolled execution
Discover Cold Drawn Technology.
- Typical weight: <2 kg/m
- Possible up to 6 kg/m
- Carbon steel MOQ usually ≥1,000 kg
- Stainless steel MOQ from 100 kg
Learn about Cold Rolled Production Capabilities.
- Weld penetration for stainless steel: 10mm per side
- Weld penetration for carbon steel: 5mm per side
- Size range: 2000mm x 1000mm
- General tolerances: ±0.5 mm
- Material thickness: 2mm – 80mm
- Weight: from 0.5 kg/m to 200 kg/m
- Material thickness: min. 3.5 mm
- Size range: fit in circle of max. 255 mm
- Only one hole can be produced
- Inside diameter of hollow profile: from 20 mm to 200 mm
- Weight: from 1.5 kg/m to 120 kg/m
- General tolerances: ±0.5 mm
Learn more about Hot Extrusion Production Capabilities.
Bars, Coils & Lengths
We can supply profiles in coils when produced in:
- Hot rolled execution
- Cold rolled execution
Contact our Sales Team.
- Standard: 8,000 mm (-0/+200 mm)
- Special cases: up to 9,000 mm
- Up to 9,600 mm (-0/+400 mm)
Cold rolled special sections are usually small in size, and the bars tend to be very flexible, compromising the straightness and twist of the bar, if not handled with the utmost care.
- Recommended length: 5,600 mm (-0/+100 mm)
- Possible: up to 7,000 mm
- Standard: 6’000mm (-0/+200mm)
- Recommended: 14’000mm max
- Possible: 16’000mm max
We can produce bars up to 16,800 mm, subject to the cross-sectional area, material composition, shape, and weight of the profile.
Each special profile has its own maximum producible length, determined by the above-mentioned technical factors.
Different profile lengths may also be manufactured when required.
Tolerance & Precision
The tolerance level on a special hot rolled profile depends very much on the shape and size of the section.
- Typical tolerance: ±0.5 mm
- Possible tolerance: ±0.3 mm
- Only for specific sections: down to ±0.1 mm
This allows substitution of cold drawn profiles with cost-efficient hot rolled near net shapes.
Read more about Hot Rolled Near Net Shapes.
Standard: DIN ISO 2768-m
Typical range:
- ±0.1 mm to ±0.5 mm
- ±0.05 mm achievable with additional drawing step
General tolerance:
- ±0.05 mm to ±0.1 mm
- Possible down to ±0.02 mm
Explore Precision Cold Rolled Profiles.
For structural profiles (channels, T, beams, angles,..):
- Straightness = 1 mm/m max
- Internal radii = < 2 mm
- External radii = 0.5mm max (sharp corners)
- Surface roughness = 3.5-5.5 Ra
For hollow sections (tubes and box sections):
- Straightness = 1.5 mm/m max
- Internal radii = < 2 mm
- External radii = 0.5mm max (sharp corners)
Surface roughness = 3.5-5.5 Ra
Laser welding enables significantly tighter tolerances compared to conventional processes, making it ideal for high-precision engineering and architectural applications.
- Minimum internal radius = 4+2 mm
- Minimum external radius = 1.5 ± 0.5 mm
- Longitudinal Curvature = Max deviation ≤ 1 mm/m
- Transverse Curvature = X max = 1% of M
Surface Treatments & Finishing
Yes.
Pickling removes:
- Mill scale
- Carbon steel contamination
- Risk of superficial corrosion
Carbon steel hot rolled profiles are not pickled.
Learn about our Stainless Steel Processing.
Yes, all stainless cold drawn profiles are degreased.
Carbon steel cold drawn profiles are not degreased to maintain corrosion protection from residual oil.
Yes. We offer one-stop solutions, including:
- Fixed cut lengths
- Drilling
- Surface treatment
Visit our Processing & Finishing Services.
No, is not a standard for our products, but it is a service we can provide through external suppliers upon request.
Yes, solution annealing is carried out for stainless steel profiles.
Hybrid & Advanced Production
Yes, at Montanstahl we also produce what we call “Hybride Profiles”.
The ability to combine different production technologies available at Montanstahl allows us to meet the specific requirements of each project.
A hot-rolled or hot-extruded pre-shape can be cold drawn to achieve the tolerances required by the design, or different profiles can be laser welded together to create a completely new section.
This approach optimizes:
- Cost
- Structural performance
- Dimensional limits expansion
- Precision
Discover Our Hybride Profiles.
Yes, at Montanstahl we produce the so-called “composite profiles.”
We can achieve this by using advanced production technologies such as laser welding or hot extrusion, depending on the technical requirements of the application.
By combining different materials in one profile, it is possible to benefit from the specific advantages of each material, such as:
- improved corrosion resistance (e.g. stainless steel combined with carbon steel)
- enhanced mechanical strength
- thermal insulation, for example when using a thermal barrier in architectural profiles
- cost optimization, by using high-performance materials only where they are required
This approach is widely used in applications such as steel window systems, façade structures, and specialized industrial components, where multiple functional properties are required in a single profile.
Discover the range of materials available for Montanstahl special profiles in our Materials section.
Structural & Window Profiles
Yes, we stock stainless structural profiles including:
- Beams
- Channels
- Tees
- Angles
- Flats
- Half rounds
- Key steel
Main grades: 304L and 316L.
Carbon steel structural profiles are produced as custom profiles only.
Explore our Structural Stainless Steel Profiles.
Yes, we produce:
- Hot rolled window sections in carbon steel
- Stainless steel window sections in laser fused execution
- Stainless steel window sections crimped together with thermal barrier
Learn more about our Special Steel Windows Profiles.
Logistics & Supply Chain
Yes. We offer call-off orders:
- Yearly quantities produced at once
- Stocked up to 18 months
- No additional cost
- Payment only upon call-off
Contact our Sales Department.
No. We comply fully with all applicable laws and regulations and do not source materials from Russia or Belarus.
Quality & Certifications
No.
Montanstahl supplies the raw profile (optionally cut or drilled). The final component manufacturer typically holds IATF 16949 certification.
See our Quality Management System.
Mechanical Crimping
Minimum industry requirements:
- Shear strength: >24 MPa
- Tensile strength: >20 MPa
Laser Welded Profiles
Laser welding is a high-precision joining process that uses a focused laser torch to melt metal components through a highly localized heat input, offering the following advantages:
- Reduced thermal distortion
- High dimensional accuracy
- Clean weld seams with minimal post-processing
- High production speed
- Excellent repeatability
- Enhanced mechanical properties
Laser welding is particularly beneficial when:
- tight tolerances are required
- post-processing needs to be minimized
- complex or thin-walled profiles are involved
- high aesthetic quality is important
Laser welding is commonly used for:
- carbon steel
- stainless steel
- high-strength steels
Material suitability depends on composition and geometry.
Due to the higher level of copper in martensitic stainless steel, these are more difficult to weld.
Yes, especially for custom profiles, where precision and control of distortion are critical.
While the initial cost may be higher, laser welding often:
- reduces secondary processing
- improves overall product quality
- optimizes material usage
resulting in a lower total project cost in many cases.
Yes. One of the key advantages of laser welding is the ability to manufacture:
- non-standard shapes
- tailored thickness combinations
- weight-optimized solutions
Hot Extruded Profiles
No, it is not required.
Yes, this is a service we can provide through external suppliers.
No, we only produces hot-extruded special profiles in a wide range of steel grades and titanium.
- MOQs are very small compared to other technologies
- Tooling costs for new profiles are very low
- Customers can start by ordering a few sample pieces, a very small quantity for trial purposes, avoiding the need to immediately start serial production.
- Hot-extruded profiles in steel have higher mechanical properties than other materials. For example, an aluminum profile used for structural purposes is lighter, but it cannot withstand heavy loads and stresses as steel can do.
- Hot-extruded special profiles can take a wide variety of geometric shapes, allowing customers to avoid welding or machining several parts together.
Design and Prototyping Phase
Yes, Montanstahl works closely with customers from the earliest stages of design to optimize profiles in preparation for manufacturing, recommending the best production technology to use and thereby ensuring efficiency from both a technical and economic standpoint.
