IG Metall calls for prospects for the second largest steel manufacturer, Krupp Mannesmann steel plant may fail due to lack of financing for conversion to climate-neutral steel production.
At Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM), the conversion to climate-neutral steel production threatens to fail due to financing. That would be the end of Germany’s second-largest steel mill, IG Metall warns. It sees thousands of jobs at risk. The union calls on the shareholders of HKM to make a clear commitment to the future of the traditional steel mill and to invest now in its conversion.
Jürgen Kerner, Managing Director of IG Metall whose responsibilities include the steel industry and Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of thyssenkrupp AG:
In almost all steel companies along the blast furnace route, the transformation towards green steel production has now been initiated with concrete investment decisions.
“A concrete concept is also on the table for HKM. What is missing is the financing commitment of the shareholders. However, it must not be that the transformation of the company fails because of their hesitation and hesitation. Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG and Salzgitter AG, as the largest shareholders, must now assume responsibility.”
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Jörg Hofmann, First Chairman of IG Metall:
It is now very specifically about the future of the colleagues at HKM.
“But there is much more at stake: what is at stake is industrial value creation and thus the future of good jobs in Germany. If it is not possible to transform the basic industry into the climate-neutral age and thereby strengthen closed value creation networks in Germany, this will have dramatic effects on the entire industrial location – far beyond the steel industry.”
“An end to the HKM would be a fatal signal. That is why the shareholders of HKM must now live up to their responsibility and invest in the future.”
The French pipe manufacturer Vallourec SA wants to give up its 20 percent stake in HKM and withdraw from Germany. Against this backdrop, the two remaining shareholders ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG (tkSE, 50 percent) and Salzgitter AG (30 percent) are struggling to find a solution for the future of HKM.
The respective chairmen of the general or group works councils of the companies concerned, Tekin Nasikkol (tkSE) and Hasan Cakir (Salzgitter), as well as their deputy chairmen of the supervisory board, Detlef Wetzel (tkSE) and Hans-Jürgen Urban (Salzgitter), expressly support IG Metall’s demand.
With a current production volume of 4.2 million tons of crude steel per year and a capacity of 5.6 million tons, HKM is Germany’s second-largest steel mill. Currently, 3100 steel workers are employed there.
IG Metall calls for prospects for second-largest steel producer, Frankfurt, December 8, 2022
