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 .