thyssenkrupp Steel continues to review plate segment options

thyssenkrupp Steel will take until the end of the year to get a clear picture of the future of its plate mill at Duisburg-Hüttenheim, the company says.

Parent group thyssenkrupp AG at the presentation of 3rd quarter figures last month for the first time said explicitly that it “… will assess the potential” of its plate activities.  The business unit has been making losses for years, and the company does not expect much relief in the foreseeable future, given the difficult market environment. “Against this background we need to make investment decisions responsibly and in the interest of the overall steel activities,” the steelmaker says in a statement sent to Kallanish.

The company’s plate segment was already under review during the failed merger with Tata Steel Europe. A team of experts will now asses the options for the company’s plate activities, “… without prejudging the outcome,” the company says. “We definitely see opportunities for its further development, but not necessarily under the umbrella of thyssenkrupp,” thyssenkrupp AG Guido Kerkhoff says.

Such a process “… seems logical in view of the overall development at thyssenkrupp Steel,” a manager at a German stockholding company says, commenting on the company’s announcement. A Swiss-based manager says that he is not surprised, but wonders “… if you can find a buyer for it, which wouldn’t help the overcapacities we have in Europe.”