Part of 13,000 jobs at risk
Thyssenkrupp wants to cook less steel in Duisburg
April 12, 2024, 7:35 a.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
Increased energy costs and increasing import pressure. Thyssenkrupp announces that it will significantly reduce steel production in Duisburg. Jobs are to be reduced by 2026. The company plans to reposition itself, but is sticking to its goal of climate-neutral production from 2045.
Germany’s largest steel manufacturer Thyssenkrupp Steel wants to significantly reduce its production capacity in Duisburg. This will “also involve a reduction in jobs that cannot yet be quantified,” said the steel division of the industrial group in Duisburg. This will also affect downstream processing stages as well as the administration and service areas. Around 27,000 people currently work in the division, including 13,000 in Duisburg. However, there is a guarantee of employment until the end of March 2026. “It is the declared goal to continue to avoid redundancies for operational reasons,” the statement said.
“The planned measures are absolutely necessary to maintain competitiveness and to lead steel production at the Duisburg site into a secure future,” explained the company. This would also secure high-quality jobs in the long term and make the basic supply of steel resilient for industrial value creation in Germany. “Deep optimizations in the production network should significantly increase competitiveness and profitability.”
The aim is to position Thyssenkrupp Steel for the future under persistently challenging market conditions. The core of the realignment will be a reduction in installed production capacities to around 9 to 9.5 million tons per year. This roughly corresponds to the level of the past three years. “Today’s production capacity, on the other hand, is designed for around 11.5 million tons.” The 11.5 million tons also include the amounts of steel produced by the Duisburg company HKM, in which Thyssenkrupp Steel has a 50 percent stake.
Energy costs and import pressure
The planned realignment is a response, on the one hand, to the persistently weak economy, but above all to medium and long-term structural changes on the European steel market and in key customer and target markets. In Germany in particular, these included high energy costs, which are continuing to rise due to climate policy objectives, as well as unbridled increasing import pressure, predominantly from Asia.
The plans for the realignment are now being further fleshed out. The company then wants to advise them with co-determination and the responsible committees in the steel sector. The company emphasized that it is continuing to convert production towards climate-neutral steel production. “The construction of the first direct reduction plant at the Duisburg site will continue to be implemented as planned, with support from the funding released by the federal and state governments.” The goal of producing completely climate-neutral production by 2045 at the latest also remains unrestricted.