Thyssenkrupp launches new continuous casting line
Germany’s Thyssenkrupp said it has started trial production of steel slabs at its new continuous casting line No. 4 at its Bruckhausen plant in Duisburg.
Further trial production runs will take place in the coming weeks, the steelmaker said.
The modernization also includes a new fully automated slab storage yard and completely modernized hot strip mill 4 with a new preliminary line and two new walking beam furnaces.
“The aim is to further expand production of high-quality steel grades with the highest standards of strength, dimensional accuracy, and surface quality – particularly for applications in electric mobility, lightweight construction, and the energy sector,” Thyssenkrupp said.
The Bruckhausen upgrade is one of the largest modernization projects in Thyssenkrupp’s history and the central investment package in its 20-30 Strategy. The aim of the project is to make the Duisburg production site more efficient and flexible, and focus on products with higher added value.
Maria Tanatar
Thyssenkrupp starts trial production at new continuous slab caster
Germany-based steelmaker thyssenkrupp has announced that it has reached a significant milestone at its Bruckhausen site in Duisburg, with the successful start of trial operation and casting of the first slabs on the new continuous casting line 4 (SGA 4), marking the largest single investment project in recent decades.
“The new SGA 4 will form part of one of the most modern production networks in the European steel industry. It is a central building block in our strategy to ensure there is a bright future for efficient and sustainable steel production at the Duisburg location. Equipped with high-tech automation and casting technology, the line enables high-precision, flexible and efficient slab production with significantly improved shape accuracy and surface quality. Advantages that will help our customers in their competitive environment,” said Dennis Grimm, thyssenkrupp Steel’s CEO.
The company pointed out that successful production of the first slabs is an important step on the way to taking the new plant complex fully into operation, which will be taking place step by step over the next few weeks. These include the new fully automated slab storage yard and the completely modernized hot strip mill 4 with a new preliminary line and two new walking beam furnaces.
According to thyssenkrupp, the SGA 4 replaces the previous casting rolling line and, together with the new hot strip mill 4, forms an integrated plant network. The aim is to further expand production of high-quality steel grades with the highest standards of strength, dimensional accuracy, and surface quality – particularly for applications in electric mobility, lightweight construction.
Thyssenkrupp opens Materials Services to investors
German conglomerate thyssenkrupp AG has decided to divest further shareholdings in various divisions. This will also affect thyssenkrupp Materials Services, the division for distribution and trading of steel and other materials, Kallanish notes.
The group’s plan, announced on Monday, is to gradually separate all its business segments and open them up for third-party investment. It has already taken this step by agreeing to turn thyssenkrupp Steel Europe into a 50-50 joint venture with Czech energy company EP Corporate Group (EPCG).
“In the coming years, the Materials Services and Automotive Technology segments are also to be prepared for the capital markets and become independent,” thyssenkrupp writes in an announcement.
Media reports over the weekend already suggested that tk Materials Services would be floated on the stock market, citing sources familiar with the plans. In that case, Germany’s largest steel distribution groups with international locations – the other being Klöckner & Co – would become publicly-listed companies.
This sweeping clean-up move does not come unexpectedly, although thyssenkrupp chief executive Miguel López called Materials Services a core activity just earlier this month. The group divested last year 20% in steelmaking division tk Steel to EPCG, with the intention of ultimately making it a 50-50 joint venture.
Regarding its other divisions, thyssenkrupp says it aims to retain controlling interests once they have been made ready for the capital market. This would basically make thyssenkrupp a holding of diverse stakes in independent companies.
The statement does not mention any potential layoffs. Media reports say that tk plans to cut 500 of 1,000 jobs at its Essen headquarters, plus 1,000 more in diverse administration roles. Policymakers from the North Rhine Westphalia state government were quoted as calling the plans “dramatic”.
Christian Koehl Germany
Thyssenkrupp to install line for medium-wide strip
Thyssenkrupp Steel is planning to convert a continuous casting line at its Duisburg-Nord site amid changes to its offtake supplies for medium-wide strip steel.
A divider is to be installed, which will make it possible to cast the required narrow slabs, it explains. The necessary investment funds in the high double-digit million range have already been approved.
The steelmaker recently announced it will terminate the offtake of supplies from HKM after 2032.
The steelmaker has sourced narrow slabs produced by Duisburg mill HKM (Hüttenwerke Krupp-Mannesmann) to roll them at its Hohenlimburg site to medium-wide strip of 600mm width, used by automotive and other industrial customers.
According to a seasoned industry observer, medium-wide strip in the past used to be produced by various EU steelmakers. This has been widely replaced by normal-width strip, which is then slit into narrower strip.
“Making medium-wide strip with dedicated technology takes more effort, but it has advantages,” he tells Kallanish. For example, higher pressure can be exerted to roll harder steels with a higher carbon content, he says.
A spokeswoman at tk Steel concurs and notes that the final products are often small in terms of tonnage, but with tight tolerances when it comes to small precision parts, like blades, or certain parts used in cars.
Thyssenkrupp Steel is the only European steelmaker left to produce medium-wide strip on bespoke facilities, she says.
Christian Koehl Germany
ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe expects sales to decline amid global uncertainties
Thyssenkrupp Steel anticipates continued challenges due to geopolitical tensions and uncertainties in global trade policies but remains committed to its green transformation and sustainability goals, Germany’s second-largest flat steel producer said in a quarterly results statement May 15.
ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe is moving forward with its low-carbon production transformation, while maintaining cautious forecasts and anticipating sales declines of 3% to 6% for the fiscal year 2024-25 (October-September).
Steel Europe’s sales decreased by 8% year over year to Eur2.64 billion in the January-March quarter, while sales for the first half of the fiscal year fell 6% to Eur10.7 billion.
The steel unit faced weak demand and underutilization, particularly due to declining orders from the automotive industry. Price-induced effects contributed to lower sales revenues and capacity utilization.
In January-March, Thyssenkrupp produced 2.08 million mt of crude steel, down from 2.48 million mt in the previous quarter and from 2.697 million mt a year earlier.
“For Thyssenkrupp, fiscal year 2024/2025 is developing in line with our forecast. Strategically, it is a year for making decisions; financially, it is a year of transition,” said Miguel Lopez, CEO of Thyssenkrupp AG.
“Steel Europe is working resolutely on the planned restructuring of the business. We are consistently implementing the measures of our APEX performance program in all segments. By contrast, the persistently difficult market environment is reflected in our operational figures for the second quarter. In the second half of the year, we are expecting a more stable market environment and positive effects from the measures we have initiated. We therefore confirm our full-year forecast,” he added.
Steel Europe is moving forward with its realignment based on the existing industrial concept for the future. At the start of May, IG Metall, the metalworkers’ union, and Thyssenkrupp Steel reached an agreement in principle on the necessary restructuring. Further negotiations are expected to lead to a collective bargaining agreement by the summer.
A further key element of Thyssenkrupp Steel’s future positioning strategy is breaking the economic link with Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann as it will reduce the capacity to 8 million-9 million mt a year, from the current 11.5 million mt a year. At the start of April 2025, Thyssenkrupp Steel initiated the implementation of this step by terminating the supply contract with HKM. As a result, Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe’s obligation to purchase around 2.5 million mt/year of steel will expire by the end of 2032 at the latest.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed domestic HRC in Northern Europe at Eur640/mt ex-works Ruhr, stable day over day.
Thyssenkrupp Materials Services appoints Heather Wijdekop as CEO of Business Unit Processing
thyssenkrupp Materials Services has appointed Heather Wijdekop as the new CEO of the Business Unit Processing, effective July 1, 2025. She will also lead the Operating Unit Processing North America, succeeding Norbert Goertz, who will continue as interim CFO of Business Unit Solutions and oversee Corporate Functions at the North America headquarters in Michigan.
Dr. Wijdekop brings over 20 years of international industry experience, including leadership roles at Tata Steel Europe and Corus Group. Most recently, she served as Director Commercial at Tata Steel IJmuiden, contributing significantly to sales growth and portfolio expansion.
North America remains a strategic growth region for thyssenkrupp, with 70% of its investment over the past five years focused in the region. The Business Unit Processing operates in both Europe and North America, providing customized flat-rolled metal processing and supply chain management, with a strong focus on the automotive sector.
CEO Ilse Henne welcomed Dr. Wijdekop to the leadership team, highlighting her customer focus, global experience, and alignment with the company’s materials-as-a-service strategy.
Thyssenkrupp may sell distribution arm, sources say
Earlier this week, international media reported Thyssenkrupp’s intention to sell its distribution arm, Thyssenkrupp Material Services, as a part of a major restructuring effort intended to increase efficiency by divesting less profitable parts of the company.
“Our goal is to transform Thyssenkrupp into a high-performance and sustainable company with a portfolio of sectors geared to profitable growth,” the company’s spokesperson told Fastmarkets on April 11. “We want every single Thyssenkrupp business to develop in the best possible way and to achieve a sustainable competitive position.
“The declared aim is to generate a permanently positive value and cash flow contribution for the group, and a reliable dividend payment to our shareholders,” the spokesperson added.
“We will continue to pursue our strategy, with a focus on the separation of the Steel and Marine divisions. The primary aim for all sectors is to increase growth and performance. This may include growth through partnerships and portfolio activities, provided this makes sense strategically and technologically,” the spokesperson said.
In August 2024, the company sold a 20% share in its steel business to a Czech private energy company, and was discussing the sale of a further 30% stake.
Thyssenkrupp Materials Services is the group’s trading arm, offering a wide range of processing and logistics services, and employing around 16,000 people. In the fiscal year 2023/24, Thyssenkrupp Materials Services’ adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) was €204 million ($231 million). The division’s sales for the same period were €12.1 billion.
By 2030, Thyssenkrupp, which is the largest steelmaker in Germany, intends to cut steel output by 2.5 million tonnes per year, with 11,000 jobs likely to be eliminated by the fundamental changes taking place across the European steel market.
Thyssenkrupp is currently building a 2.5 million tpy DRI module in Duisburg that was expected to have capacity for around 5 million tpy of low-CO2 steel by 2030.
In March 2025, Thyssenkrupp put on hold a hydrogen tender for its green steel plant due to elevated prices, but said that it was still committed to the Duisburg site’s green transformation.
Crisis in European steel market
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD), the nominal crude steelmaking capacity in Europe is well over 200 million tonnes per year, but actual output volumes have been lagging far behind that in recent years.
In 2022, crude steel production across Europe amounted to 136.30 million tonnes, down from 152.60 million tonnes in 2021, according to data from the World Steel Association (worldsteel). The decline was due to massive output cuts that were implemented by European mills in the third and fourth quarters of 2022, due to deteriorating demand and falling steel prices.
In 2024, steel output rebounded slightly to 129.5 million tonnes compared with 126.3 million tonnes in 2023, according to worldsteel. But the total volume was still below the 159.4 million tonnes recorded pre-Covid in 2019.
Steel production in Germany amounted to 37.23 million tonnes in 2024, up by 5.2% from 35.4 million tonnes in 2023.
But despite that slight rebound, steel production in Germany remained lower, and has been below 40 million tonnes for three years in a row, German steel federation WV Stahl said.
Earlier this week, Dutch steelmaker Tata Steel Nederlands (TSN) added to the problems in the European steel sector when it announced plans to undergo a large-scale transformation that will lead to the loss of about 1,600 jobs at its IJmuiden facility.
In March this year, the European Commission presented a Steel and Metals Action Plan to support the struggling industry, but it remained to be seen how the plan will be implemented and what results it will bring.
So far, the European Commission has focuses on tightening trade policies to protect the local market from unfair imports.
On April 1, the Commission introduced new, tighter, steel safeguard measures to support the domestic steel sector.
And from April 7, the EU has imposed anti-dumping duties on imports of hot-rolled coil from Egypt, Vietnam and Japan.
Europe’s steel sector was still at the heart of several regional economies, with approximately 500 production sites across 22 EU member states, the Commission said. According to EU data, the European steel sector contributes around €80 billion to the bloc’s gross domestic product and supports more than 2.5 million jobs.
Thyssenkrupp could sell Materials Services division
Germany’s thyssenkrupp AG is rumoured to be considering divesting its steel and materials distribution division, thyssenkrupp Materials Services.
The multi-industries group has for years strived to separate from its steel production division, tk Steel Europe. It is now in the process of selling a 50% stake in tk Steel to Czech group EPCG, which has already acquired 20%.
While tk Steel Europe has long been a problem child for the group, tk Materials Services has been performing reasonably well. It is one of the biggest steel distributors in Europe and beyond, with more than 300 sites across all continents, and an order volume of €12.1 billion ($13.5 billion) in the last fiscal year.
Good earnings in its international supply chain business led to an increase in adjusted Ebit last fiscal by 15% to €204 million. Tk Steel, on the other hand, posted negative Ebit of €770m.
If true, the divestment would sever thyssenkrupp’s ties to its history as a steel company, but would also generate cash for the other miscellaneous activities of the group.
Speculation over the sale was reported by Bloomberg earlier this week. In a statement sent to Kallanish, thyssenkrupp AG did not confirm the plan but did not explicitly deny it either.
A German industry observer tells Kallanish he heard of the rumour weeks earlier, with €2 billion touted as a target price, The price is fair in view of the division’s assets, he notes. Although he doubts the offer would lure too many bidders, he has heard of interest being expressed by Asian companies.
Thyssenkrupp breaks economic link with Hüttenwerke-Krupp Mannesmann
Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, subsidiary of German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp Steel, is breaking its economic link with Hüttenwerke-Krupp Mannesmann (HKM), the joint venture between Thyssenkrupp Steel, German steelmaker Salzgitter and French pipe manufacturer Vallourec.
The company has announced that it has decided to terminate the supply contract with HKM. As a result, Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe’s obligation to purchase around 2.5 million mt of steel per year will expire on December 31, 2032, at the latest.
Last year, Thyssenkrupp Steel had declared that it intended to divest its stake in HKM as part of its restructuring plan, while the negotiations with Hamburg-based CE Capital Partners on the sale of Thyssenkrupp shares in HKM failed, as SteelOrbis previously reported.
“Due to market conditions, we will have to reduce our production capacities in the long term from the current 11.5 million mt of steel to a shipping target of 8.7 to 9 million mt. The separation from HKM is therefore imperative for us in order to achieve a competitive cost position, to maintain our location in Duisburg-Nord, and to make Thyssenkrupp Steel economically robust and geared up for the future. Irrespective of the termination of the supply contract, the sale of the shares in HKM remains our preferred option. We are open to discussions with all serious interested parties,” Dennis Grimm, spokesman of the executive board of Thyssenkrupp Steel, said.
Hydnum Steel to supply decarbonized flat steel to Thyssenkrupp’s service center subsidiary
Thyssenkrupp Materials Processing Europe, a service center subsidiary of German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp, has announced that it has signed an agreement with Spain-based Hydnum Steel to join forces to drive the transition to a decarbonized steel industry.
Accordingly, Hydnum Steel will supply Thyssenkrupp Materials Processing Europe with up to an annual 100,000 mt of decarbonized flat steel for an initial period of seven years. The products will be produced at the flat steel plant in Puertollano, Spain, currently under construction.
The agreement will enable Thyssenkrupp Materials Processing Europe, which has a wide range of customers in sectors including the automotive industry, construction and household appliances, to expand its range of environmentally friendly products and respond to the industry’s growing interest in sustainable solutions.
