A steel material composition in particular for manufacturing piston rings and cylinder liners, which has a good nitriding capability, contains the following elements in the given proportion related to 100% by weight of the steel material composition: 0.5-1.2% by weight C, 4.0-20.0% by weight Cr, 45.30-91.25% by weight Fe, 0.1-3.0% by weight Mn, 0.1-3.0% by weight Mo, 2.0-12.0% by weight Ni, 2.0-10.0% by weight Si and 0.05-2.0% by weight V. It can be manufactured by manufacturing a melt of the starting materials and casting the melt into a prefabricated mold. Nitridation of the steel material composition which is obtained leads to a nitridized steel material composition which, by virtue of the manufacture with gravity casting, exceeds the properties of tempered cast iron with nodular graphite.