afterburnerarcade| Global steel giants lay off employees to survive! Thousands of jobs will disappear!

SourceAfterburnerarcadeTaogang net

On April 11, steelmaker ThyssenKrupp Steel said in a public statement that it had decided to make large-scale layoffs at its major steel plant in Duisburg and cut steelmaking capacity at the same time, which is expected to be reduced by up to 22%. The Duisburg steel plant, which currently has a capacity of 11.5 million tons per year, will be reduced to 9 million to 9.5 million tons in the future.

Germany used to be a global leader in steel production, but in recent decades the German steel industry has been competing with lower-cost overseas competitors. ThyssenKrupp's steel business has been under the pressure of long-term losses in recent years against a backdrop of fierce competition in the global steel industry. According to its financial performance statement for the financial year 2022-2023 (October 1, 2022-September 30, 2023), the net loss reached 2 billion euros.Afterburnerarcade.2.5 billion US dollars). The severe situation forced the company to take more radical measures. ThyssenKrupp's steel business employs nearly 27000 people, 13500 of whom work at ThyssenKrupp's steel plant north of Duisburg. So far, the company has not provided a specific number of layoffs, but thousands of jobs are expected to be affected.

Politicians in North Rhine-Westphalia expressed disappointment with the decision of steelmaker ThyssenKrupp. Economy Minister Mona Neubauer (Green Party) pointed out sharply that ThyssenKrupp had received billions of dollars of government support in recent years and called on the company to find a fair solution for the affected workers. She said one of the main construction plans for the Duisburg plant-replacing blast furnaces with hydrogen-powered direct reduction plants and two smelters-should go ahead. She pointed out that the project was planned in coordination with the European Commission. Public subsidies will cover about 2/3 of the list price of 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion).

In addition, union leaders responded that they would discuss production cuts at the Duisburg plant only if ThyssenKrupp ruled out mandatory layoffs after March 2026, the expiration date of the current job security agreement. Gisler, the union leader, said ThyssenKrupp needed to explain why, just nine months after receiving the subsidy, "structural adjustments that will affect thousands of jobs have been announced".

In fact, this is not the first time ThyssenKrupp has made such an adjustment. As early as November 2023, due to the downturn in the European car market and falling demand for galvanized steel products, the company had closed a steel plant with an annual capacity of 450000 tons in its Spanish subsidiary, resulting in the loss of jobs. In addition, it was reported that ThyssenKrupp had negotiated the sale of part of its steel business in order to change the loss situation. Since the beginning of 2023, the company has been actively seeking the possibility of divesting its steel-related business.

ThyssenKrupp was formed by the merger of Thyssen AG and Krupp AG in March 1999. Thyssen AG and Krupp AG, both founded in the early last century, have made important contributions to the construction of European iron and steel industry and machine manufacturing industry, and are the epitome of the development history of German heavy industry. ThyssenKrupp's crude steel production is 9.93 million tons in 2022 and 12 million tons in 2021, according to the World Iron and Steel Association. ThyssenKrupp as a German industrial giant, in the face of severe market environment challenges, whether ThyssenKrupp can successfully reshape the steel business, get out of the quagmire of losses and achieve a comprehensive recovery will undoubtedly become the focus of the entire iron and steel industry.

Information reference: China Metallurgical Daily, yahoo Finance, etc.