PRESS RELEASE IG Metall calls for a future for the second-largest steel manufacturer

Frankfurt – At Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM), the transition to climate-neutral steel production is in danger of failing due to a lack of financing. That would spell the end for Germany’s second-largest steel mill, warns IG Metall. The union sees thousands of jobs at risk. The union is calling on HKM’s shareholders to make a clear commitment to the future of this historic steel mill and to invest in its conversion now.

Jürgen Kerner, , an executive board member of IG Metall responsible, among other things, for the steel industry and deputy chairman of the supervisory board of Thyssenkrupp AG: “In almost all steel companies using the blast furnace process, the transition to green steel production has now been set in motion with concrete investment decisions. A concrete plan is also on the table for HKM. What is missing is a financing commitment from the shareholders. However, the company’s transformation must not be allowed to fail because of their hesitation and procrastination. Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG and Salzgitter AG, as the largest shareholders, must now take responsibility.”

Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall: “What is at stake right now is quite specifically the future of our colleagues at HKM. But it goes far beyond that: at stake is industrial value creation and, with it, the future of good jobs in Germany. If we fail to transform the basic materials industry into the climate-neutral era while strengthening integrated value-chain networks here in Germany, this will have dramatic consequences for the entire industrial sector—far beyond the steel industry. The demise of HKM would send a disastrous signal. That is why HKM’s shareholders must now live up to their responsibility and invest in the future.”

The French pipe manufacturer Vallourec SA intends to divest 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 HKM’s future.

The respective general and group works council chairpersons of the affected companies—Tekin Nasikkol (tkSE) and Hasan Cakir (Salzgitter)—as well as their deputy supervisory board chairpersons, Detlef Wetzel (tkSE) and Hans-Jürgen Urban (Salzgitter), expressly support IG Metall’s demand.

With a current production volume of 4.2 million metric tons of crude steel per year and a capacity of 5.6 million metric tons, HKM is Germany’s second-largest steel mill. It currently employs 3,100 steelworkers.