Tenaris appoints Gabriel Podskubka to succeed ceo Paolo Rocca
Tenaris has appointed Gabriel Podskubka as its new chief executive, the company says in a statement seen by Kallanish. Podskubka succeeds Paolo Rocca, who will continue to serve as chairman of the board.
“We would like to express our profound gratitude to Paolo Rocca for his outstanding leadership in building the company into the clear global leader that it is today and for being the architect of the continuous growth of Tenaris over the past 25 years,” the global pipe manufacturer states.
Podskubka has been Tenaris’ chief operating officer since 2023. He joined the company in 1995 and has held leadership positions across marketing, commercial and industrial functions, including heading the Luxembourg-based company’s Eastern European operations in 2009. He served as president of its Eastern Hemisphere operations from 2013 to 2023.
Author: Todor Kirkov
Klöckner steps up sale of SSC Becker
Steel distribution group Klöckner & Co is making progress with the sale of its unit Becker Group and is shortlisting candidates for a takeover, Kallanish observes.
The divestment process for Becker Group, which was announced in January “is proceeding as planned,” Klöckner has said while announcing its quarterly results.
It says that several non-binding offers were received after 31 March, and that the prospective buyers are currently in the due diligence phase.
Becker Group consists of steel service centre Becker Stahl and Becker Aluminium-Service in Bönen, as well as Becker Stainless in southern Germany, and Umformtechnik Stendal in eastern Germany.
Becker Stahl is Germany’s largest steel service centre with a capacity to handle 1 million tonnes/year of coil/strip. It was sold by its founder and then managing owner Ulrich Lollert to Klöckner around 16 years ago.
The intention of selling Becker was announced at the same time as the takeover move by US group Worthington Steel became known. Klöckner did not say if the two moves are related, or if the divestment of Becker was part of the negotiations with Worthington.
Market sources believe this to be the case, with Worthington reportedly interested in Klöckner’s successful US operations.
Author: Christian Koehl
France’s steel product export value down 6.1 percent in Jan-Feb 2026
According to the statistics released by the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, in the January-February period this year France’s basic steel product and ferroalloy exports amounted to a value of €1.52 billion, decreasing by 6.1 percent year on year.
In the given period, France exported €186.17 million of steel pipes and tubes – down 9.8 percent, €77.52 million of cold rolled steel bars – up by 3.1 percent, €108.02 million of cold rolled steel strip – up 14.2 percent, €52.96 million of cold drawn wire – increasing by 4.6 percent, and €124.78 million of metal structures and parts – down by 11.8 percent, all compared to the same period of 2025.
Imports amounted to a value of €1.5 billion, decreasing by 2.7 percent year on year
In the given period, France imported €338.67 million of steel pipes and tubes – up 2.1 percent, €82.04 million of cold rolled steel bars – down by seven percent, €105.29 million of cold rolled steel strip – dropping by 8.4 percent, €75.16 million of cold drawn wire – falling by 9.3 percent, and €377.11 million of metal structures and parts – decreasing by 13.5 percent, all compared to the same period of 2025.
Author: SteelOrbis Editorial Team
MEPs urge Commission to ‘reassess’ CBAM for Ukraine
During a 5 May debate on the CBAM carbon border levy, MEPs in the environment committee, ENVI, called for a rethink on how the EU’s flagship tax on carbon-intensive imports applies to war-hit Ukraine.
The move comes after the CEO of leading Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest told Politico that the Commission was in talks with Kyiv about a possible exemption. Last year, Ukraine was the leading exporter, by volume, of CBAM-covered goods to the EU, particularly iron and steel.
Germany’s Peter Liese, ENVI coordinator for the centre-right EPP, seemed to back a potential exemption, while Dutch MEP Mohammed Chahim of the centre-left S&D and rapporteur for a CBAM proposal under negotiation, said “we have to reassess” the file’s force majeure clause.
EPP and liberal Renew MEPs agreed. A Commission official present at the hearing did not comment on the matter. Metinvest told Contexte that it wasn’t directly involved in talks with the Commission.
The EU executive said it is “aware of the concerns expressed by the Ukrainian industry over exports of steel and aluminium”, adding it was working with Kyiv to “facilitate” CBAM’s implementation.
A Commission report in December found no grounds to trigger a force majeure exemption for Ukraine.
CBAM rapporteur seeks cross-party push to widen scope of carbon border tax
Dutch S&D rapporteur Mohammed Chahim invited members of environment committee ENVI to draft joint amendments to potentially include more sectors under the CBAM tax on carbon-intensive imports.
Chahim told a 5 May ENVI hearing that amendments could be negotiated in trilogue talks with the EU Council. This comes as co-legislators debate Commission proposals to bring more steel and aluminium byproducts under CBAM.
Chahim’s draft report on the CBAM extension proposal, finalised last month, doesn’t go beyond the Commission’s proposal, which would extend CBAM to about 180 additional goods from 2028. At the hearing, MEPs from the Greens, the liberal Renew and ultraconservative ECR groups signalled support for broadening the scope.
ENVI also debated a parallel file setting up a temporary decarbonisation fund to help certain CBAM-covered sectors cope with the levy. Renew rapporteur Pascal Canfin’s pitch to tie funds more closely to actual exports was backed by S&D, Green and EPP MEPs. But a Commission official warned this could breach World Trade Organization rules.
The official also questioned Canfin’s push to open funding to downstream operators subject to CBAM but not to the ETS carbon market, saying this could limit available funds.
Austria’s Wuppermann Metalltechnik opens new tube plant
Austria-based steel producer Wuppermann Metalltechnik GmbH (WMT), a subsidiary of Germany-based Wuppermann Group, has announced that it has officially opened its new tube plant at its Altmünster site in Austria.
The new facility will expand WMT’s production capacity and significantly broaden its product range. It will produce complex special profiles with wall thicknesses of up to 4 mm, as well as tubes and profiles in an extended range of dimensions and strengths. The plant will process steel grades such as DP800, DP980 and 22MnB5, with tensile strengths of up to 1,000 MPa.
According to the company, the new plant is equipped with fully automated raw material and finished goods warehouses, together with highly digitalized logistics and production processes, ensuring high efficiency. WMT stated that the facility also includes an inline rolling stand and a tube internal scraping unit, enabling the production of premium products with tight tolerances. The company’s existing tube welding line will remain in operation and will be relocated to the new hall complex to increase efficiency.
“This significant investment by Wuppermann Group has resulted in the creation of one of the most modern tube mills in the world. It enables us to remain the quality leader for our customers, manufacture with maximum efficiency, benefit from a very high level of digitalization and automation, and safeguard European production,” Oliver Rechtsprecher, spokesman for the executive board of Wuppermann AG, stated.
Czech Republic’s Sev.en suggests a combined British Steel bid with SSUK
Czech energy and investment group Sev.en Global Investments has signaled interest in a possible combined bid for British Steel and Speciality Steel UK, arguing that a single buyer could create a stronger, more stable future for the UK steel industry, according to a report by The Guardian. The proposal, if pursued, could reshape the country’s steel sector by creating the UK’s largest steelmaker.
Sev.en suggests combined solution for British Steel and SSUK
Sev.en Global Investments has said the UK government should look for one buyer for both British Steel and Speciality Steel UK. The group stated that such a combination could create the country’s biggest steel producer and provide a more robust industrial solution.
The company already owns the UK’s largest electric steelworks and said it plans to invest £100 million in the UK, mainly in the electric arc steelworks in Cardiff, which it acquired last year. Sev.en also stated that it has the capacity to invest hundreds of millions of pounds more in Britain through its 7 Steel brand.
Sev.en says UK needs a buyer with steelmaking expertise
Speaking to The Guardian, Sev.en CEO Alan Svoboda said the UK government should seek a large company with proven steel production experience to take on British Steel’s plant in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, and SSUK’s electric arc furnace operations in South Yorkshire.
Although Svoboda said he could not discuss specific talks with the government or other parties, he suggested that a combined approach could be more attractive if it reduced the need for taxpayer support.
French recycler Derichebourg acquires Germany’s Scholz Recycling Group
French recycling firm Derichebourg has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the share capital of Germany’s Scholz Recycling Group, Kallanish notes.
This strategic acquisition continues Derichebourg’s international growth and strategy to secure its leading position in the global metal waste recycling industry, it says.
According to the French company, this will also expand operational scale by integrating a network of over 100 recycling centres – 180 including joint ventures – located in countries where the group has little or no business.
The acquisition will also “support the decarbonisation of the steel industry in Europe to meet the growing demand from European steelmakers who are replacing their traditional blast furnaces with electric arc furnaces which consume large quantities of high-quality scrap metal,” it adds. It will “optimise operational efficiency through complementary logistical and commercial operations across Europe.”
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026. It would be financed entirely from Derichebourg’s existing cash resources and credit facilities, with the bridge loan provided by BNP Paribas.
“This project would mark a pivotal step in our international expansion strategy,” says Derichebourg chief executive Abderaman El Aoufir. “We have been able to nimbly seize a complex market opportunity thanks to the strength of our balance sheet and our industrial vision.”
Derichebourg Group is a major international operator in waste recycling, mainly metal and public sector services. The group currently operates in 13 countries and has 5,393 employees worldwide. In 2025, Derichebourg generated revenue of €3.3 billion ($3.85 billion).
Founded in 1872, Scholz is one of Europe’s leading metal recycling companies. With a turnover of €1.6 billion in 2025, the group has a long-standing industrial presence in Germany, as well as in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, and through joint ventures in Austria and Romania. In 2025, Scholz sold over 3 million tonnes of recycled ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals, paper, cardboard and plastics.
Salzgitter acquisition of Duisburg mill gets clearance
The European Commission, under the EU Merger Regulation, has approved the acquisition of German mill Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM) in Duisburg by Salzgitter Mannesmann.
The transaction relates primarily to the manufacture of semi-finished carbon steel products, the Commission writes.
In February, Germany’s largest steelmakers, Salzgitter AG and thyssenkrupp Steel agreed on a transfer of tk Steel’s 50% stake in HKM to Salzgitter AG’s subdivision Salzgitter Mannesmann, effective 1 June (see Kallanish 6 February).
Salzgitter so far holds 30% in HKM. The remaining 20% was held by French tubemaker Vallourec, which had closed its German mills in recent years. The agreement sees it selling its stake to Salzgitter.
HKM is one of the biggest German slab mills with a potential capacity of around 5 million tonnes/year of slab, but no rolling facilities. For tk Steel’s parent thyssenkrupp, the ownership in HKM had become a hurdle in the group’s endeavour to make its steel division a separate independent company.
Meanwhile, HKM slabs are feedstock for Salzgitter Mannesmann’s tubes production.
The European Commission concluded that the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given the limited impact on the market structure. The notified transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure, it says.
Tubos Reunidos files for voluntary and continuity insolvency proceedings
Tubos Reunidos has informed the CNMV that the Board of Directors has acknowledged that, due to the cash flow pressures experienced by the Company in recent months—further aggravated by the undesired suspension of activity at the Amurrio mill—the Company is in a situation of imminent insolvency.
Under these circumstances, and notwithstanding that the Board of Directors has been working over recent months on a viability plan aimed at ensuring the continuity of the Company and its subsidiaries, given that the necessary conditions to guarantee the Company’s viability at present have not yet been secured (particularly in terms of a significant cash inflow), the Board, maintaining the prudent approach that has guided its actions, has been compelled to file for voluntary insolvency proceedings in accordance with Article 6 and related provisions of Royal Legislative Decree 1/2020 of 5 May, approving the revised text of the Spanish Insolvency Law (“TRLC”).
This filing has been submitted today, 4 May, before the competent court in Álava.
The decision to file for voluntary insolvency proceedings—also adopted by the governing bodies of the Company’s subsidiaries—has been taken following appropriate external advice and with the aim of protecting the interests of creditors, employees, suppliers and shareholders of the Company and its subsidiaries.
Tubos Reunidos is a listed company on the Spanish stock exchange with more than 130 years of history and a global leader in specialised niche segments of seamless steel tubular products. The Group operates three production facilities located in Amurrio and Subillabide (Álava), and Valle de Trápaga (Bizkaia).