Press briefing on June 4, 2002 at ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel GmbH in Essen

"United we are moving into a bright future for the electrical steel business," Dr. Wolfgang Trommer, Chairman of the Management Board of newly established ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel GmbH, told journalists. The youngest subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Steel AG, Duisburg, began operation in Essen on April 1, 2002.

The ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel group, with combined sales of just under 800 million euros and 3,500 employees last fiscal year, brings together four electrical steel companies which were previously run separately within the ThyssenKrupp Steel group: ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel EBG GmbH with plants in Bochum and Gelsenkirchen, Germany; ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel UGO S.A. with a plant in Isbergues/France; ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel AST S.p.A. with a plant in Terni/Italy; and EBG India Private Limited with a plant in Nashik/India.

Through centralized sales management ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel aims to strengthen its international presence and competitiveness. The combination creates a unique global company focused exclusively on electrical steel. As Trommer pointed out, ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel is a full-line supplier. Its increased manufacturing flexibility will enable it to respond quickly to the needs of customers around the world. Sales representatives are in place in over 60 countries to serve the company`s more than 800 customers.

"Electrical steel is found wherever motion is converted into energy and energy into motion. Generators, transformers, motors and environmentally friendly new technologies like wind turbines - they all use electrical steel," said Trommer. The companies combined in ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel have been involved with the product since the early 20th century. ThyssenKrupp`s interest became clear in the seventies with the takeover of the Bochum and Gelsenkirchen plants. UGO (Isbergues/France), AST (Terni/Italy) andEBG India (Nashik/India) were integrated in the mid to late nineties.

Electrical steel is a material with a great future, for several reasons: One is the growing scarcity of fossil fuels, which will drive the use of alternative primary energy sources for electricity generation. Another is the near certainty of growing electricity consumption in the future. Statistics point to a steady catch-up in per capita power consumption in the emerging and developing countries. New electricity generating capacities need to be created around the world. And in Germany, too, with the gradual phase-out of nuclear energy, new power plants based on the latest technology will be needed.

In addition, environmental protection will become increasingly important. "In times of heightened environmental awareness, electrical steel must support the efficiency of innovative and environmentally friendly technologies," said Dr. Trommer. The concept of supplying hybrid or electric-only cars with power from wind turbines would certainly merit the Blue Angel environmental label.

ThyssenKrupp Steel therefore sees great potential in this highly competitive sector. "We are sticking firmly to our strategy of securing competitiveness through cost reductions, maintaining our leading market positions and strengthening our presence in growth markets," emphasized Trommer. "In ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel we have created the ideal platform for this."

Contact:

Erwin Schneider
ThyssenKrupp Steel
Tel.: + 49 2 03 / 52 - 2 56 90
Fax: + 49 2 03 / 52 - 2 63 69
e-mail: schneider@tkst.thyssenkrupp.com