Stainless steel producers ThyssenKrupp Nirosta GmbH (Germany) and AvestaPolarit Oyj Abp (Finland) signed the agreements under which AvestaPolarit will acquire ThyssenKrupp Nirosta`s quarto plate business (volume 40,000 metric tons p.a., sales 95 million euros) effective February 1, 2003. This will mainly involve the sale of the customer base and the Krefeld service center. Toll production at ThyssenKrupp VDM`s German plants in Siegen and Altena is to continue. The German regulatory authorities have approved the transaction. The letter of intent was signed by the parties on September 19, 2002.

Dr. Helmut Hadrys, chief executive of ThyssenKrupp Stainless GmbH and vice chairman of the Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp Steel AG, said: "The sale of our quarto plate business is a further step in our consistent efforts to streamline our product portfolio. We intend to concentrate increasingly on our core competencies - the production of cold-rolled stainless products - to satisfy our customers` exacting requirements for quality and delivery performance. This is an area where we already hold a leading position in Europe, and we are looking to build on this position."

Contact:

Erwin Schneider
Tel.: +49 203 / 52 - 2 56 90
Fax: +49 203 / 52 - 2 57 07
e-mail: erwin.schneider@tks.thyssenkrupp.com

Dietmar Stamm
Tel.: +49 203 / 52 - 2 62 67
Fax: +49 203 / 52 - 2 57 07
e-mail: mailto:dietmar.stamm@tks.thyssenkrupp.com