Capital market-relevant press releases Jun 26, 2003 2:00 AM
ThyssenKrupp Steel AG Supervisory Board approves capital expenditure of 692 million euros
In its meeting on June 26, 2003, the Supervisory Board of ThyssenKrupp Steel AG approved an amount of 692.4 million euros for the 2003 investment round. 653.3 million euros of this is earmarked for investment in property, plant and equipment. The investment will be carried out in the coming fiscal years and will be financed from operating cash flow. "The remaining free cash flow will be used to pay a dividend to ThyssenKrupp AG and to reduce debt," says Dr. Ulrich Middelmann, Chairman of ThyssenKrupp Steel AG`s Executive Board.
The biggest investment of over 100 million euros will be realized mainly over the next two fiscal years at Rasselstein Hoesch GmbH, Germany`s only tinplate manufacturer. This investment strategy is Rasselstein Hoesch`s response to increasing global demand for tinplate with demanding technical specifications. Although the German beverage can market is expected to decline due to the introduction of a compulsory deposit, international forecasts are positive. Sustained significant growth in consumption of materials for two-piece beverage and food cans is expected on the European and overseas markets.
The investment in a continuous annealing furnace for the production of thinner, higher-quality tinplate will not increase overall output at Rasselstein Hoesch. However, there will be a significant shift in the product mix toward coated materials. Following closure of the Dortmund plant and reassembly of the dismantled coating line in Andernach, Rasselstein Hoesch is now concentrated at the world`s biggest tinplate production site in Andernach. Part of the Carbon Steel business unit, Rasselstein Hoesch has 2,314 employees and achieved sales of 762 million euros in the fiscal year to September 30, 2002. Sales volumes reached 1.1 million metric tons. In 2002 the company held a 6 percent share of the world market, 16 percent in Europe and 57 percent in Germany.
To build on its position as market leader and participate in the strong medium-term growth on the tailored blanks market, ThyssenKrupp Tailored Blanks GmbH is expanding its production facilities, primarily at its Duisburg-Hüttenheim plant. 21.1 million euros has now been added to the 33.8 million euros investment funds approved the previous year. This will be used to install a total of four automated laser welding lines, a press and a high-bay storage system, creating around 100 new jobs in the process.
ThyssenKrupp Tailored Blanks currently has four production sites in Germany, another two in Italy and one in Mexico. It also has joint ventures in China, the USA, Brazil and Spain. ThyssenKrupp is world market and technology leader for tailored blanks with linear and non-linear welds, supplying more than 34 million blanks last fiscal year. Sales were 230 million euros.
14.2 million euros of additional funds was approved for ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni S.p.A. to complete the final phase of increasing stainless cold strip output to 670,000 tons, while a further 16.3 million euros will be invested in modernizing the hot rolling mill in Terni. The hot wide strip mill was built in 1965 and modernized in 1985. The new investment is targeted on improving quality. ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali Terni has 3,600 employees and achieved sales of 1.5 billion euros last fiscal year.
Contact:
ThyssenKrupp Steel AG
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: dietmar.stamm@tks.thyssenkrupp.com