Thyssenkrupp starts new electrical steel processing line

Thyssenkrupp Steel says it has enhanced its non-grain oriented electrical steel production after commissioning the new annealing and isolating line at its Bochum plant.

It invested €150 million ($156m) in the line, which has a capacity of 218,000 tonnes/year, depending on the portfolio, Kallanish understands. For strip widths of 700-1,350mm, the line enables production of 0.2mm to 1.0mm thin sheet with particularly homogeneous mechanical and magnetic properties. They are specially designed to meet the requirements of highly efficient motors used primarily in electric vehicles, the firm notes.

The rolling mill upstream of the annealing and isolating line, a double reversing stand, has already been completed. The two new units are set to be complemented by a new electrical steel inspection line and a finishing line for cutting and tailoring. The finishing line is scheduled to go on stream in 2026.

The overall investment at the Bochum site amounts to €300m. In the new plant, the structure of the cold-rolled strip is recrystallised during the annealing process. The appropriate texture can then be set, and the sheet is coated with an insulating layer after the annealing process.

Christian Koehl Germany

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Thyssenkrupp sells Spain’s Galmed plant to Network Steel

Spanish coil processing company Network Steel (NS) has acquired ThyssenKrupp’s Galmed (FBA9) plant in Sagunto, Valencia, Kallanish notes. The facility can produce 450,000 tonnes/year of hot-dip galvanized coil. The material is mainly supplied to the automotive sector.

Thyssenkrupp could not be reached for comment. NS indicated in a brief note that it is growing its business but did not comment on the financial terms of the deal. Spanish government and trade union representatives also have confirmed the sale.

“The management of Thyssenkrupp Galmed informed us that the negotiations were successfully completed last week and that the transfer of shares is expected by the end of December,” the union CCOO says. The workers’ representatives have had no contact with NS yet, but, pending the industrial plan for the coming years, CCOO assures that employment and working conditions will be maintained.

“From the first moment, the Valencian government has been in dialogue with both companies providing the maximum support so that this operation could be carried out,” says Spain’s Minister of Industry, Marián Cano.

The German steelmaker closed the facility in November 2023 due to the significant worsening of the European automobile market and the consequent reduction in demand for galvanized steel products in Spain and southern Europe. Thyssenkrupp carried out a detailed analysis of the profitability of its ten lines and the result showed the closure of FBA9 was inevitable from an economic standpoint.

Todor Kirkov Bulgaria

 

Another executive resigns from thyssenkrupp

The chief financial officer of thyssenkrupp AG, Jens Schulte, has asked the company’s supervisory board to terminate his contract by mutual consent, Kallanish learns.

Schulte wishes to join the DAX-listed Deutsche Börse AG group as cfo, thyssenkrupp clarifies. It says the supervisory board will in the near future debate this request and a date for the possible termination of his appointment. Until he leaves the company, Schulte will perform his duties as cfo, a statement says.

Schulte took office at thyssenkrupp only in June this year. He is also due to assume the role of human resources chief as of February 2025.

“We respect Mr. Schulte’s wish to seize the opportunity to join the executive board of a DAX-40 company, although we very much regret his departure,” says Siegfried Russwurm, chairman of thyssenkrupp’s supervisory board. The conglomerate itself is no longer a DAX-40 company, after it moved down to the stock market’s mid-cap segment some years ago.

Still, Schulte’s departure after barely half a year with the company has raised some eyebrows against the backdrop of numerous thyssenkrupp executives departing in recent months, mainly at the tk Steel division.

Christian Koehl Germany

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Thyssenkrupp to axe 11.000 jobs, reduce capacity

Thyssenkrupp Steel says it will cut around 5,000 jobs in production and administration by 2030. A further tranche of 6,000 jobs is to be transferred to external service providers or shed through the sale of business activities.

The steelmaker will lower annual production to 8.7-9 million tonnes, from 11.5mt currently. The reduced volume corresponds to shipments in the previous financial year.

Such a reduction is “in line with market conditions, thus adapting capacities to future market expectations,” it says in a press release sent to Kallanish. The figures are the cornerstones of a key issues paper on the company’s future strategic set up, which was announced previously.

Tk Steel’s separation from Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM) remains a key element in the capacity reduction. The primary objective is to sell the shares in HKM. If a sale is not possible, tk Steel will hold talks with the other shareholders about mutually acceptable scenarios for the plant’s closure – the first time this option has been explicitly mentioned.

In addition, a processing site in Kreuztal-Eichen is to be closed.

“Comprehensive optimisation and streamlining of our production network and processes is necessary to make us fit for the future. We are aware that this path will demand a great deal from many people,” says tk Steel chief executive Dennis Grimm.

“In terms of operational efficiency and profitability, we still have some catching up to do in key competitive areas. We need to close these gaps if we want to look forward to a positive future,” adds Marie Jaroni, chief transformation officer.

The company maintains that it remains committed to the green transformation and carbon-neutral steel production, and is holding firmly to its intended plan of completing the direct reduction plant that is under construction. A decision on building another DRI plant will only be taken at a later date and under the economic, technological, and political conditions that apply at that time, tk Steel says.

 

 

Thyssenkrupp CEO Miguel Angel López downplays the prospects of renewable energy in Germany

Thyssenkrupp AG chief executive Miguel Angel López has dismissed German government efforts to promote solar and wind power in the country as uneconomical.

“I have not seen any plan that facilitates green electricity in central Europe at competitive costs,” he said in an interview with weekly magazine Focus. Competitive green energy would only be possible on the Iberian peninsula and Scandinavia, where costs would always be lower than in Germany, he added.

“My point is pure mathematics. If you compare the costs in Scandinavia, the Iberian Peninsula, or the USA with those here, and extrapolate them into the future, the result will always be the same,” he is quoted as saying. Billions in public subsidies for solar and wind energy is therefore wasted money, he argues. Solar power will not pay off in Germany, while wind power does not have sufficient available surface area to be rolled out, he added.

The interview appeared prior to the group’s annual press conference on Tuesday, but the topic was not broached then by executives. However, one critical commentator questioned whether Iberian and Scandinavian green energy would be made available to other countries in sufficient volumes. “They might need it for their own projects,” Kallanish heard him say from the conference floor.

In the interview, López made a stand for the strength of Germany’s manufacturing industries, and warned that de-industrialisation has already begun. He rejects public subsidies to strengthen local industry, and instead favours financial incentives that have been successful in other countries. As an example, he cites London, which created attractive jobs by granting temporary tax reductions for wealthy tax payers willing to move to the UK.

Christian Koehl Germany

EU HRC market gears up for mill consolidation

The European hot-rolled coil (HRC) market is gearing up for potential consolidation over the coming year, as mills grapple with tough market conditions.

The share prices of key European producers have rallied in recent days, despite continued weakness in HRC prices. Global steelmaker ArcelorMittal’s shares traded above €22/share ($24/share) on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange at 12:30 GMT today, up from €19.70/share on 10 September. This strength is partly attributable to the expected release of economic stimulus measures in China, and the US Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cut, sources suggest. But market strength could also be because of growing talk that a new wave of consolidation is on its way, fuelled by decarbonisation efforts and the strained positions’ of some mills.

There has long been talk that steel coil producer Tata Steel Netherlands could be sold, after the Dutch state agreed to contribute to its decarbonisation spend. Recent difficulties at Germany’s ThyssenKrupp have also sparked suggestions it could be an acquisition target. Czech Republic energy company EP Corporate Group (EPCG) recently completed its purchase of a 20pc stake in ThyssenKrupp’s Steel Europe division, and could increase this to 50pc in the near future. EPCG owner Daniel Kretinsky may be seeking a strategic partner to help run the business, sparking talks that other mills could bid for a stake in the company.

ThyssenKrupp shares were trading at €3.20/share on Deutsche Borse Xetra at 12:30 GMT today, up from €2.78/share on 10 September.

Concerns over strong positions in niche markets, particularly tin plate, saw Tata Steel and Thyssekrupp call off their proposed joint venture in May 2019. But the market is in a different position now. Some mills have reduced capacity but new entrants are trying to join the market as green producers. And the global market is oversupplied, putting European producers in a difficult financial predicament, especially given their capital-intensive efforts to decarbonise. In the case of ThyssenKrupp, expectations that the mill will reduce its production footprint could partially alleviate potential competition concerns in the event of a takeover.

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Thyssenkrupp lines up Steel supervisory board chairman successor

Following the departure of several members of the executive and management boards of thyssenkrupp Steel last week, the next chairperson of the supervisory board could be Ilse Henne, chief executive of thyssenkrupp Materials Services.

Although an appointment has not yet taken place, parent thyssenkrupp AG says its executive board has proposed Henne, the company tells Kallanish upon request. Henne became ceo of the distribution division after the departure of Martin Stillger. She has been with the division for a while. As head of a unit in the Benelux, she improved the coordination of local companies in Belgium and the Netherlands to achieve synergy.

Stillger took his leave due to a disagreement with tk AG ceo Miguel López, insiders say. They also believe that Henne has a much better standing with López, as she not only became a divisional ceo, but earlier also a member of parent AG’s board. Her potential new appointment would support that assumption.

Her earlier appointment at tk Materials was one of two decisions that were preceded by a standoff in the supervisory board at the AG, between the representatives of shareholders and of employees. The decision came about on the basis of chairman Siegfried Russwurm executing his double vote. The same move served to release the sale of a 20% stake in tk Steel to Czech energy firm EPCG.

Both decisions were followed by harsh criticism from union and employer representatives, who called it a violation of the corporate culture of fair co-determination. The ongoing dispute between tk AG’s management and employer factions came to a head with last week’s mass exodus from tk Steel’s board.

In a statement this week, union IG Metall reiterated that the confidence between employees and ceo López was shattered. It asked López and Russwurm to return to a sensible dialogue with employees, rather than push through decisions against the other faction. The union mentions a campaign branded “López is not our ceo”, which has been signed online by several thousand members.

Christian Koehl Germany

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Thyssenkrupp to cooperate with BlueScope on low-carbon steel research

Thyssenkrupp is starting a cooperative effort with Australian steel supplier BlueScope Steel to scale up its research activities for the production of carbon-neutral steel, the Germany-based company said on Monday August 19.

The focus of the joint research will be on smelting units and direct-reduced iron (DRI) plants, it added.

The cooperation between the two companies will continue for four years, intended to enhance the understanding of smelting technologies and to optimize the management of Thyssenkrupp’s new DRI complex in Duisburg, now under construction.

BlueScope Steel has already gained experience in these technologies by operating smelters in New Zealand using DRI made from iron sand, Thyssenkrupp said.

Thyssenkrupp already had plans to replace one of the four blast furnaces at its Duisburg site with a DRI plant and two downstream smelters in 2027, a company spokesperson told Fastmarkets. This would allow the company to make its first steps toward carbon-neutral steel production, Thyssenkrupp added.

The other three BFs will gradually be replaced with climate-friendly alternative technologies by 2045, the spokesperson told Fastmarkets.

The new plant will have capacity for 2.5 million tonnes per year of DRI. The company also planned to be able to produce around 5 million tpy of low-carbon steel by 2030.

Thyssenkrupp has obtained €2 billion ($2.2 billion) in German state funding for its green steel transformation project.

The DRI module at Duisburg will be powered by green hydrogen, which is seen as a strategic renewable fuel in Europe.

According to the hydrogen import strategy approved by the country’s Federal Cabinet at the end of July, demand for hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives in Germany will amount to 95-130TWh in 2030.

“In the smelters, DRI and aggregates are melted to form hot metal,” Thyssenkrupp said. It added that two identical smelters, each electrically powered and with capacity for 100MW, were being built to process the 2.5 million tpy of DRI output.

Thyssenkrupp added that, ideally, renewable electricity would be used to power the smelters.

“The smelters offer numerous advantages in an integrated metallurgical network,” Thyssenkrupp said. “They enable the production of equivalent ‘electric furnace iron’ while all other process stages, including the steel mill, remain in place, and [further] investments in plants and equipment are minimized.”

The company added that, by retaining all processes from the steel mill stage onward, Thyssenkrupp would continue to provide its customers with “the entire range of steel grades in the usual high quality.”

According to the company, the use of a smelter offers a flexible raw material basis, since DR pellets can also be used in the DR plant.

Another advantage of this technology was that the molten slag could be processed further and used in the cement industry, thus contributing to recycling management.

Demand for green steel remains slow in Europe
Demand for flat green steel was still sporadic in Europe. This was a result of both seasonal factors and relatively low green steel uptake across supply chains, industry sources have told Fastmarkets.

During the assessment week ended August 15, offers of green steel with Scope 1, 2 and upstream Scope 3 carbon emissions of less than 0.8 tonnes per tonne of steel were reported at €200-350 ($221-386) per tonne from European suppliers, stable week on week.

But due to the slow demand, producers were apt to give discounts. As a result, a booking of flat steel with carbon emission content of around 0.6-0.8 tonne per tonne of steel was reported at €170-200 per tonne in late July/early August.

Fastmarkets’ latest weekly assessment of the green steel domestic, flat-rolled, differential to HRC index, exw Northern Europe, was €170-200 per tonne on August 15, narrowing downward from €170-250 per tonne seven days earlier.

Published by: Darina Kahramanova

Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann owners prefer sale over stake increase

Salzgitter and thyssenkrupp Steel, co-owners of Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM), have no interest in taking over the 20% stake in the Duisburg mill still owned by Vallourec.

In fact, thyssenkrupp Steel, the largest owner with 50%, has now made it clear that it also wants to divest its stake. “We are aiming for a sale of [our stake in] HKM,” thyssenkrupp chief financial officer Jens Schulte told Kallanish during a conference call on Wednesday. He referred to a statement to that effect made last week by Sigmar Gabriel, the supervisory board chairman at tk Steel.

The decision makes sense from the view of thyssenkrupp, given the company recently decided to reduce its capacity and intends to sell 50% of its tk Steel division to EPCG. The Czech energy group recently bought an initial 20% and continues negotiations to take another 30%. While thyssenkrupp and EPCG did not disclose details of the transfer, Manager Magazin writes that EPCG paid €140 million ($155m) for its 20%, citing inside sources.

As far as Salzgitter is concerned, its chief executive, Gunnar Groebler, said on Monday the company does not intend to increase its 30% shareholding in HKM, although it earlier expressed an interest in doing so. Salzgitter has not specified if it wants to divest or keep it stake.

Pipemaker Vallourec has long kept its stake because HKM’s slab is ideal for making tube. It was however reported last year to be seeking to divest its interest. Retaining the stake would be a reasonable path for Salzgitter, too, considering its Mannesmann Tubes business, in addition to the obvious kinship of roots in the traditional Mannesmann company.

Christian Koehl Germany

ThyssenKrupp Schulte to close seven sites

ThyssenKrupp Schulte will close seven sites as part of its restructuring drive, market sources told Argus today.

The company will close stockholding warehouses in Braunschweig, Rheine, Munich, Nuremberg, Freiberg, Mannheim and Frankfurt, according to multiple market sources.

Last month the company said it would be closing sites and cutting around 450 jobs, but did not reveal which sites would be affected.

“Fundamental structural adjustments are necessary to better respond to market changes in the future”, the company said when it announced the restructuring, citing declining materials demand and increasing demand for materials-related services. All the impacted locations are stockholding sites and do not provide additional processing.

ThyssenKrupp Schulte is part of ThyssenKrupp Materials Services and distributes stainless, carbon and non-ferrous metals from around 40 locations.

A ThyssenKrupp Materials Services spokesperson said it could not comment on the affected locations, as “discussions with the respective co-determination bodies have only just begun and the details of the transformation are the subject of these discussions”.

“At ThyssenKrupp Schulte we are aiming to transform the business model in order to increase the company’s profitability and enable Schulte to respond even better to changing customer needs,” the spokesperson added.

argusmedia.com