Thyssenkrupp plans major investment in its steel division

German engineering and steel concern Thyssenkrupp plans to invest millions of euros in its steel division to modernize production sites in Duisburg and Bochum, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The projects are planned to be completed by the end of 2024.

“Thyssenkrupp AG has approved the funding for an important investment in our manufacturing network,” said Bernhard Osburg, CEO of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe. “This is a strong signal for the steel business and a strong sign of confidence in difficult times.”

German company Increased its annual forecast on sales, cash flow and profit in 2021 year, citing increased demand for automotive components and materials.

“Amid the ongoing volatile market environment, we have had a good first quarter as we are seeing signs of economic recovery and our efforts to improve business performance are starting to bear fruit. We are still in the red. Further efforts are needed to transform Thyssenkrupp into an efficient group of companies in the long term. This is why we continue to accelerate the renovation, ”said CEO Martina Merz.

The group currently expects to almost break even at adjusted operating profit. Earlier it was expected that the loss for 2020 - 2021 will be more than a billion euros.

The group's steel division, which is supposedly being sold but can now be spun off and retained as part of the group, posted an adjusted operating profit of € 20 million ($ 24 million) in the first quarter, compared with a 127 million loss in the same period last year.

At the group level, adjusted operating income for the October-December quarter was € 78 million, a level that will decline between January and March, the company said.

Recall that in January the British LIBERTY STEEL billionaire Sanjiv Gupta submitted to Thyssenkrupp a firm bid for the acquisition of its steel division, but never received a response from the German concern.