Germany’s economy is unlikely to gain notable momentum before the end of voestalpine’s fiscal year on 31 March 2025, says its chief executive, Herbert Eibensteiner.
“The question of when Germany will recover is certainly interesting,” Eibensteiner said during a conference call on Wednesday when asked for his assessment. “In our outlook, we do not anticipate an essential improvement until the end of our business year.”
Voestalpine’s automotive-grade steels are suffering, especially from the continued weakness of German carmakers, which saw the company adjust its profit forecast one month ago. In contrast to that, voestalpine is banking on the plans of a Chinese carmaker for a plant in Hungary. “We would be the nearest supplier for steels, and we are already in talks with the manufacturer,” Kallanish heard from Eibensteiner.
Overall, Europe is the weakest market for voestalpine, while its activities in Asia and the USA are faring altogether better, executives said. They maintain expectations for positive performance at the company’s overseas plants. In terms of product segment, they expect solid further development for railway infrastructure, aerospace and warehousing.
In the high-bay warehousing sector, voestalpine is currently implementing projects for Danish retail chain JYSK and South Korean tire manufacturer Nexen Tire Corporation. For Nexen Tire, voestalpine is building a warehouse 50 metres high in the Czech Republic.
It also points to positive news from a flagship project in the railway infrastructure sector: voestalpine Railway Systems is supplying around 260 high-speed turnouts, including maintenance software, for Egypt’s first high-speed rail line, the Green Line.
Christian Koehl Germany
