ThyssenKrupp seeks buyer for Brazilian and US steel plants
16 May 2012
German industrial giant ThyssenKrupp yesterday said that it is considering taking on a partner or sell its steel plants in Brazil and the US in the face of rising costs and slow demand in North America.
After posting a €1 billion loss for 2012 at its Brazil and the US operations, the Essen-based steelmaker said in a statement that the economic parameters have changed since the development strategy for its plants in Rio de Janeiro and in Mobile, Alabama.
''Since the plans for the project were made in the economic parameters both in the USA and Brazil have changed from our original assumptions," said Dr. Heinrich Hiesinger, chairman of ThyssenKrupp.
Hiesinger said, "There are clear reasons that now call this strategy into question. Therefore we have to examine whether it still makes sense strategically to operate the two plants in a common integrated network."
ThyssenKrupp started operating its CSA steel-slabs plant in Rio de Janeiro in 2010, which has a capacity to produce five million tonnes of steel annually, while its steel mill in Calvert, Alabama, also opened in 2010.
Brazilian mining giant Vale SA owns 26.9-per cent in CSA steel-slabs plant in Rio Janeiro.
