Billion-dollar orders: aircraft manufacturers fly on voestalpine

Hightech-Bleche for aircraft are manufactured there. The majority of orders come from the manufacturer, among others Airbus come, includes Forged parts for engines and chassiswhich are produced at the Kapfenberg and Sumare locations in Brazil.

The main reasons for the job cuts in Styria were: US tariffswhich caused sales volumes in the USA to decline significantly. Eibensteiner puts the costs for Voest in the high double-digit million range. Eibensteiner explained that the group-wide job cuts are three quarters of the way through.

No bottlenecks because of the Iran war

The voestalpine boss considers the effects of the war in the Middle East to be „managebar“. bottlenecks Gas There have been none in Europe due to the obstructions in the Strait of Hormuz. Voest gets its gas from Norway or via Italy North Africasaid Eibensteiner. Liquefied gas comes from the USA and still out Russia

According to the voestalpine boss, we will know in the first half of the year how the situation in the Middle East will impact in the long term. If energy prices remain high, the slight tailwind that we had at the beginning of the year will no longer be felt much.

With green steel on track

voestalpine wants the first two next year Electric arc furnaces in Linz and Donawitz for the production of green steel. A total of five blast furnaces are to be replaced by more environmentally friendly alternatives. By 2030, two more electric furnaces will start producing steel and emissions will be reduced by 50 percent. The aim is to produce climate-neutrally by 2050. The group has invested 1.5 billion euros. Around half of it has already been spent, said Eibensteiner.

He warned one Extension of CO2-free certificates which are due to expire in 2034. Sufficient green electricity and hydrogen networks are not yet available. Because the energy issues have not been resolved, more time is needed for implementation, said Eibensteiner. The cheaper one planned from the beginning of next year Industrial electricity price welcomes the Voest boss. There will be some improvement. However, voestalpine produces the majority of its electricity itself from exhaust gases from the blast furnace. “Gas is relevant for us,” said Eibensteiner.

On rails

Voestalpine is well on its way Railway areawhere you last with premium rails, high-tech switches and digital monitoring systems 2.2 billion euros implemented and is the world market leader in infrastructure systems. Since 2016, revenues in this area have increased by 62 percent, which is Voest’s total annual revenue 15.7 billion euros. In the next few years, Eibensteiner expects continued high sales in the division due, among other things, to the renovation of the ailing German railway network, but also in Switzerland, the Baltics, Egypt, China and the USA.

The steel company wants to grow even when things are going well Warehouse technology business. Customers include Ikea, Walmart and Amazon. Also on Indian market Eibensteiner sees a lot of potential.