Top Investments of the Year 2024 in Saxony-Anhalt

From start-ups to established medium-sized companies to large corporations – the economy in Saxony-Anhalt is characterized by a wide range of company sizes. The state is also broadly positioned in terms of industries: The Central German Chemical Triangle is considered one of the most attractive locations for the chemical industry worldwide, while at the same time it is an ideal ground for battery cell production, from materials manufacturing to battery development and testing. Whether it is MedTech and pharmaceuticals, the food industry and bioeconomy, or automotive and mechanical engineering – Saxony-Anhalt has developed into a center of excellence in many areas. Companies benefit from their proximity to science and research and have invested in strong technologies, modern production facilities, and new jobs in recent years.

Adjusted for inflation, the gross domestic product in 2023 declined by 1.4% compared to the previous year. In nominal terms, however, i.e., taking inflation into account, Saxony-Anhalt achieved a gross domestic product of EUR 78.4 billion in 2023, corresponding to an increase of 5.2% over the previous year. Overall, Saxony-Anhalt’s gross domestic product has steadily increased since reunification.

Sven Schulze, Minister for Economic Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry of Saxony-Anhalt, emphasizes the region's economic dynamism against the backdrop of global challenges: "International companies continue to rely on Saxony-Anhalt. These are strong signals for our state. This shows that we are a location that offers opportunities, is modern, and creates prospects. Together with our companies, we are advocating in Berlin and Brussels for lower industrial electricity prices and less bureaucracy. Together, we are driving innovation and achieving further milestones in the targeted development of our state into a high-tech location. We offer investors the best conditions to settle in Saxony-Anhalt and become part of our success story."

Innovative chemistry and sustainable products

The best example are companies in the Zeitz Chemical and Industrial Park: CropEnergies AG is located there with its subsidiary CE Biobased Chemicals GmbH (CEBC). At the end of 2023, the company announced the construction of a new production facility for renewable ethyl acetate. The construction of the new facility in Elsteraue represents CropEnergies' first major step in a new business area: the production of sustainable biochemicals from renewable raw materials. The new production facility will be the first of its kind in Europe. It will produce 50,000 tons of renewable ethyl acetate per year from sustainable ethanol and using renewable energy sources. This will have a significantly smaller carbon footprint than conventional ethyl acetate, which is produced from fossil-based raw materials. CropEnergies is thus contributing to the defossilization of basic chemicals used in numerous everyday products and is thus opening new sales markets in the growing field of renewable products for the chemical industry.

In addition, the GETEC Group is investing in a climate-neutral energy supply plant for CEBC. This plant will thermally utilize biomass as well as liquid and gaseous production residues, thus supplying CropEnergies' new production facility with sustainable energy. The project will involve an investment of over €50 million and is scheduled to go into operation by the end of 2025.

Schönebeck to become an industrial and innovation center

Schönebeck (Elbe) is attracting an increasing number of internationally renowned companies. Two major investments are strengthening the city's economic dynamism. The family-owned company Coroplast Fritz Müller GmbH&Co.KG is building a state-of-the-art factory for specialty adhesive tapes. A production site is being built on an area of more than five hectares with an investment volume of €25 million. The first construction phase comprises 3,500 m² of usable space and is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2025. With this investment, Coroplast is underscoring the strategic importance of Saxony-Anhalt as a production location. The Coroplast Group, with its three business divisions, develops and produces technical adhesive tapes, electrical cables, and ready-to-install cable harnesses at twelve plants worldwide. With a total of 7,100 employees, the group generated sales of approximately €780 million in 2023. The Wuppertal site employs 1,200 people.

At a press conference in Schönebeck, Stefanie Pötzsch, State Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, said: "We are pleased that Coroplast has found the best location conditions in Saxony-Anhalt. Our business location also benefits from further diversification by an internationally renowned company and demonstrates its future viability in many industries and sectors."

In addition, the Irish company Mercury Engineering laid the foundation stone for its German headquarters in Schönebeck in October 2024. In the first construction phase, the company is investing €25 million in production halls covering 1.2 hectares, creating 75 jobs, with a planned expansion to up to 200 jobs.

Mercury is the leading provider of construction and MEP solutions in Europe, operating in key sectors such as data centers, the semiconductor, and pharmaceutical industries. Germany is currently Mercury's largest market, generating revenues of nearly €500 million. The investment in Schönebeck is therefore an important strategic step for the company. The state-of-the-art site will serve as an engineering center, housing a team of up to 200 professionals offering design, BIM, and value engineering services to support multinational clients in core sectors. In addition to providing engineering expertise, it will function as the main manufacturing hub for the prefabrication of complex facilities for mainland Europe.

The Schönebeck facility will offer 15,000 m² of production and operational space, enabling faster delivery and higher productivity through cost-effective methods and processes. Excellent location, investment, and economic conditions led Mercury to choose this location. The town in the Salzland district is thus reinforcing its status as a strategic location for future industries.

AGCO doubles workforce in Hohenmölsen

The US agricultural machinery manufacturer AGCO Hohenmölsen GmbH is also focusing on Saxony-Anhalt. Since the establishment of the Hohenmölsen plant in 2009, the workforce has grown from 20 to 534 employees. A new paint shop, built with an investment of €20 million, will open up a new business area. 40 new jobs will be created, with another 40 to follow. By 2028, AGCO plans to double the workforce at the site to 1,000 employees and quadruple production hours to one million. This means that the number of components produced will increase from three million to twelve million. The Hohenmölsen site in southern Saxony-Anhalt will thus become one of the most important production centers for agricultural machinery components in Europe.

Daimler Truck Invests in Halberstadt

Another flagship project is the construction of the new Daimler Truck Global Parts Center in Halberstadt. A completely new logistics location, the Global Parts Center, is being built as the heart of the company's global spare parts supply. In the future, deliveries will be handled from a central location, eliminating additional transport routes and reducing the time required to deliver the parts.

From the new logistics center, up to 300,000 different items – from the smallest screw to the finished truck cab – will be delivered to nearly 3,000 vehicle dealers in over 170 countries around the world. Thanks to state-of-the-art storage and conveyor technology, all vehicle parts will be available for immediate retrieval in an automated high-bay warehouse and an equally automated small parts warehouse. Construction began in 2023, and assembly work for the huge high-bay warehouse is proceeding as planned, with commissioning scheduled for the middle of this year. The center is expected to be operating at full capacity by 2026, supplying spare parts worldwide.

The new logistics site is being planned for CO₂-neutral operation from the outset, with its energy concept completely dispensing with fossil fuels. The site is heated by electric heat pumps, which bring heat into the building via underfloor heating systems. In addition, extensive rooftop photovoltaic systems have been installed, capable of generating up to 13 million kWh of electrical energy per year. This is more than will be consumed at the site. Surplus energy from the Global Parts Center will be made available to other Daimler Truck locations in Germany. The roofs of the adjacent buildings will be planted with greenery. An e-mobility concept is also planned: In addition to a large number of charging stations for electric vehicles and e-bikes, there will also be charging options for suppliers' trucks, whose fleets are gradually being electrified.

MedTech and high-tech in Dessau and Magdeburg

The pharmaceutical company Merz Pharma GmbH & Co. KGaA is investing €40 million in the expansion of its site in the "Center of Excellence Saxony-Anhalt," the Dessau-Roßlau Biopharmapark. The new filling plant with isolator technology and a multifunctional building are intended to increase production of neurological and aesthetic specialty products such as Xeomin and Bocouture. The Merz Group has invested over €140 million in the production site to date and has approved future expansion plans with further investments to triple production output at the site. By spatially integrating the value-added steps in the immediate vicinity of production, the logistics chain will be simplified, and products will continue to be produced efficiently and cost-effectively in the Biopharmapark and packaged on-site. Furthermore, consolidating production in Dessau will enable a high degree of flexibility, enabling it to respond more effectively to the constantly changing market environment. This substantial expansion of the Merz production site in the Biopharmapark is expected to entail a further significant investment of approximately €60-80 million and significantly increase jobs. The site expansion is also a significant step for the city of Dessau-Roßlau and the Biopharmapark, a future location, to sustainably promote the region's economic growth.

In Magdeburg, the startup RAYDIAX is creating a world first: The Therapy Assistance CT (TACT) is set to revolutionize minimally invasive cancer surgery. The company is developing technology that enables more precise interventions while reducing X-ray radiation by 40 percent. Close collaboration with university hospitals in Germany and Europe confirms RAYDIAX's innovative potential. The company was awarded the Saxony-Anhalt Business Award in the Start-Ups category last November.

The electronics developed by RAYDIAX combine, for the first time, 3D multi-slice imaging with 2D angiography, in which the vessels are visualized using contrast agents. The company provides specialized software, as does the hardware. The TACT offers the surgeon an interior space with a diameter of one meter and a free-floating patient table. Crucial to providing healthcare for clinical staff is the over 40 percent reduction in X-ray radiation compared to existing CT systems, which are not designed for use in operating rooms.

Another startup is Periodically GmbH: Its goal is to remove the taboo surrounding menstruation and make free menstrual products freely available to everyone in the spirit of equal opportunity and educational equity. To this end, it offers period product dispensers and offers empowerment workshops at universities and schools, municipalities, companies, and organizations. The winners of the Public Value Award have already successfully acquired partners such as SAP, Deutsche Bahn, IKEA, Biontech, Adidas, and many others.

Circular Economy: SOLAR MATERIALS from Magdeburg

The startup SOLAR MATERIALS GmbH is developing an innovative recycling process for used solar modules. Until now, valuable materials such as silicon and silver were often wasted – the Magdeburg-based company has found a solution to almost completely recover these raw materials. The pilot plant in Magdeburg is based on thermomechanical processes, which not only save around 80 percent of the energy, but also make it possible to recover precisely these materials from the modules.

The pilot plant currently recycles 3,000 tons of modules per year. An industrial recycling line is expected to process 10,000 tons annually starting in 2025. Demand is high: inquiries from India, Japan, Italy, and France demonstrate the global interest in sustainable solutions for the solar industry. In addition to equity capital, the city of Magdeburg also offered the necessary halls and optimal logistical connections, and funding from the Investment Bank of Saxony-Anhalt and support from the state's Investment and Marketing Corporation also helped to get the company off the ground. The award-winning startup has taken an important step toward a circular economy in the solar industry with its technology.

Saxony-Anhalt is a location for the future

In recent years, Saxony-Anhalt has impressively established itself as an economically dynamic and innovative location. The numerous investments by renowned companies demonstrate that the state, with its optimal framework conditions, excellent infrastructure, and strategic location in the heart of Europe, is becoming increasingly attractive. Whether in industry, the energy sector, or medical technology – Saxony-Anhalt is a location with a future.

The high-tech sector is also developing rapidly, demonstrating that Saxony-Anhalt is a hotspot for innovation. Targeted support for start-ups and the commitment of research institutions and universities further support this development and ensure a sustainable boost to innovation.

"The increasing number of global companies settling here demonstrates that Saxony-Anhalt is an attractive business location with enormous potential. The combination of skilled workers, innovative strength, and strong economic development makes the state one of the most exciting investment destinations in Germany," says Dr. Robert Franke, Managing Director of the Investment and Marketing Corporation Saxony-Anhalt mbH (IMG), the state's top economic development agency. The continuous expansion investments are the best proof that the location offers the best conditions for good business. His conclusion: With its clear focus on the future and political support, Saxony-Anhalt will continue to play a key role in the German and European economic landscape in the coming years.

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