A double belt press having a first, lower circulating plastic belt and a second, upper circulating plastic belt. The plastic belts have a first, low flexural strength, and a product gap is formed between facing strands of the plastic belts for forming a plate-like product. A first circulating lower steel belt and a second circulating upper steel belt are provided and have a second flexural strength which is high in comparison to the flexural strength of the plastic belts. A forming section is formed between the facing strands of the steel belts, which forms part of the product gap. The first, lower steel belt runs parallel and bears against a rear face of the first plastic belt in the forming section during operation, and the second upper steel belt runs parallel and bears against a rear face of the second plastic belt in the forming section during operation.