In many regions of paper industry an aggressive environment is prevalent which require good corrosion properties of the applied steels. As a result of their excellent properties, such as pitting resistance and ductility, austenitic stainless steels are widely used in these areas. The corrosion properties of steels are based on the presence of chromium. Additionally, these alloys often contain nickel and molybdenum. Because of price fluctuations of nickel and the high price of molybdenum considerable efforts have been undertaken to replace expensive austenitic steels by low-cost alternatives. Therefore, lean-duplex stainless steels should represent a good option. The aim of the present work is to compare the lean-duplex steels X2CrMnNiN22-5-2 (LDX 2101) and X2CrNiN23-4 (SAF 2304) with respect to their precipitation and corrosion behaviour. The influence of different heat treatments on mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the lean-duplex steels is investigated. Microstructural investigations should allow the correlation between structure and properties of the steels. Furthermore, the studies should show to what extent lean-duplex stainless steels are economically favourable compared to austenitic steels.