Coating materials with minimized lubricant demand enable optimized tribological conditions in forming flat steel products and are also unobjectionable in relation to their effects on the environment. With such coating materials, steel components can be produced by forming flat steel products in forming machines. For example, a tribologically-active layer may be produced on at least one surface of a flat steel product or a forming machine used to form the flat steel product, wherein the at least one surface comes into contact with the opposing component during forming. The tribologically-active layer may be formed by coating the at least one surface with a coating material from a group consisting of aluminum sulfate, ammonium sulfate, iron sulfate, and magnesium sulfate. The flat steel product may be inserted into the forming machine to be formed into the steel component.”