ThyssenKrupp sorts out steel market

The Finnish steel company Outokumpu has taken over Inoxumin, the stainless steel division of the German steel company ThyssenKrupp. Outokumpo's plant in the northern Finnish city of Tornio stands to profit from TyssenKrupp's cutbacks in production writes the liberal daily Kaleva: "There has long been a glut on the stainless steel market, and now that glut can be reduced. The smelting furnace in Krefeld will close at the end of next year, the one in Bochum by the start of 2017. As a rule, prices rise when over-capacities disappear. ... According to the company's estimates, annual savings will lie at 225 to 250 million euros by 2017 at the latest, when the plant in Bochum ceases production. The deal hardly signals a danger for the steelworks in Tornio. When supply and demand are better adjusted, the capacity of the stainless steel plant in Tornio can be maximised and there should also be a reasonable price for its products."

» full article (external link, Finnish)
More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Economy, » Germany, » Finland

» To the complete press review of Wednesday, February 1, 2012