Thyssenkrupp Steel is idling its heavy plate rolling mill in Duisburg-Hüttenheim this week, with a complete shutdown of the facility scheduled for Sep 30. Until then, the unit will continue delivering finished stocks to its customers.
The heavy plate segment does not find a place in the steelmaker’s restructuring initiative which focuses on producing and selling higher value-added premium steel in the automotive and high-quality industrial sectors such as electromobility and packaging. The company was also unable to find a buyer for the mill.
The company’s Antwerp hot strip cut-to-length line that produces high-strength and wear-resistant strip heavy plate sheets will continue operating. Over 90pc of the 800 employees are being transferred to thyssenkrupp’s North Duisburg site or to other thyssenkrupp locations. The remaining employees have been offered packages with full or partial retirement.