Protests against partial sale
Thyssenkrupp votes for investor entry into steel business
May 23, 2024, 8:49 p.m
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Thyssenkrupp approves the partial sale of its steel business. A holding company owned by the Czech billionaire Kretinsky will initially take over 20 percent of the division. CEO Lopez defends the deal in front of protesting workers.
Thyssenkrupp’s supervisory board has narrowly approved the planned entry of Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky into steel subsidiary Steel Europe. The Ruhr group announced in Essen that the decision was made with the second voting rights of the chairman of the supervisory board, against the votes of the employee representatives.
Kretinsky’s energy holding company EPCG is initially to take over 20 percent of Thyssenkrupp Steel’s shares, and later a further 30 percent. The steel board, headed by Bernd Osburg, is currently working on a concept for the future of the steel division.
At midday, Thyssenkrupp CEO Miguel Lopez promoted the planned partial sale of the Thyssenkrupp subsidiary to steel workers, thousands of whom had gathered in front of the company’s headquarters in Essen to protest. “It won’t work without cuts,” he said. However, there will continue to be no redundancies for operational reasons.
“But we have to act so that steel from Duisburg continues to have a future,” said Lopez. Energy is becoming a crucial cost factor in the course of decarbonization in steel production. That is why EPCG is needed as a partner. It is understandable that employees are worried, said Lopez. “Without changes, things are looking bad for the steel industry in Germany.” Increasing overcapacity is putting pressure on prices.
Lopez’s plan also aims to deconsolidate the cyclical steel division from its own balance sheet. At the same time, steel capacities are to be reduced by almost a quarter, from the current 11.5 million tons annually to 9 to 9.5 million tons. There will also be job cuts. However, it is still unclear how many jobs will be lost. It is also unclear whether blast furnaces will be shut down in the steel business. The IG Metall union fears that Thyssenkrupp could give up its stake in the Krupp Mannesmann ironworks.