Thyssenkrupp supports investor involvement in steel sector.
Thyssenkrupp's board gives the green light for the partial sale of its steel division. The Czech billionaire, Kretinsky, takes the lead with a 20% stake in Steel Europe. CEO Lopez faces employee protestors while defending the move.
After a tight vote, the Supervisory Board of Thyssenkrupp has agreed to permit Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's energy holding company, EPCG, to invest in their steel offshoot, Steel Europe. The decision came despite dissent from the employee representatives, as reported by the Ruhr Group in Essen.
EPCG plans to acquire a 20% stake in Thyssenkrupp Steel now, followed by an additional 30% at a future date. The steel division's executive board, headed by Bernd Osburg, is currently formulating a strategy for the business's future.
In the middle of the day, CEO Miguel Lopez tried to sway the steel workers gathering outside Thyssenkrupp's headquarters in Essen against the planned sale of Thyssenkrupp Steel. This gathering was made up of thousands of protestors. "Cutbacks are necessary for this to work," declared Lopez. But there won't be any mandated layoffs.
"In order for steel from Duisburg to thrive, we need to make these changes," explained Lopez. In the process of decarbonizing, energy will become a pivotal cost factor in steel production. Therefore, EPCG is a necessary partner. "Of course, employees are anxious about this," he said. "Without transition, the steel industry in Germany is in trouble." As the sector faces growing overcapacity, prices are under pressure.
In addition to trying to detach the cyclical steel division from his financial records, Lopez has the goal of potentially shutting down blast furnaces in the steel industry. Capacity reductions are also a possibility, from the present 11.5 million tons per year down to between 9 and 9.5 million tons. This will likely result in job cuts, although the exact number is yet to be determined. It's also unclear if the blast furnaces in the steel business will be closed. IG Metall, a trade union, anticipates that thyssenkrupp might discontinue its ownership stake in Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann.
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Source: www.ntv.de
