Thyssenkrupp Steel division plans to cut thousands of jobs

Thyssenkrupp Steel plans to cut 5,000 jobs by 2030 and relocate a further 6,000 jobs by outsourcing to external service providers or selling off business activities. Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM) is threatened with closure.

Thyssenkrupp Steel intends to reduce production capacity from the current 11.5 to 8.7 to 9 million tonnes and therefore adjust it to future market expectations. This amount roughly corresponds to the shipping result of the previous financial year. With the further processing in Kreuztal-Eichen (surface finishing of cold-rolled and hot-rolled strip), a location in the Siegerland region will be closed completely. The split from Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM) remains a key element in the necessary capacity reduction. Should a sale fail, talks would be held with the other shareholders Salzgitter Mannesmann and Vallourec Deutschland on mutually agreeable closure scenarios.
The company wants to stick to its plan for green transformation and climate-neutral steel production. The direct reduction plant already under construction will be completed. By 2030, the two blast furnaces 8 and 9 in Duisburg shall be replaced by the DR plant and the two planned smelters with a total shipping capacity of 2.2 million tonnes per year. In future, another blast furnace could be replaced by a modern electric arc furnace, for example. A decision in this regard, however, will only be made at a later date and under the economic, technological and political conditions that apply at that time.
In addition, personnel costs shall be reduced by an average of ten per cent in the coming years and therefore adjusted to a competitive cost level. As part of the reorganisation, the declared aim remains to avoid redundancies. ‘We take our responsibility very seriously and want to create long-term prospects for as many of our employees as possible’, says CEO Dennis Grimm.
The company is continuing to pursue the spin-off of the Steel division with the aim of increasing the Czech EP Group's stake in Thyssenkrupp Steel from the current 20 per cent to 50 per cent.
Source: Thyssenkrupp