Salzgitter reduced steel production by 12% year-on-year in the first half of the year

The German conglomerate Salzgitter AG reduced steel production by 12.1% in January–June 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, down to 2.93 million t. This is according to the company’s report for the first half of the year.

Total external sales in the first half of the year decreased by 11% year-on-year, reaching €4.66 billion.

For January–June, the company reported a net loss of €88.9 million, compared to a net loss of €18.6 million in the first half of 2024.

Salzgitter’s EBITDA for the period decreased to €116.8 million compared with €233.6 million in the first half of 2024.

The group noted that the first half of 2025 was characterized by geopolitical tension, trade policy conflicts, and weak economic dynamics.

As Gunnar Groebler, Salzgitter AG’s Chief Executive Officer, pointed out, in an extremely challenging geopolitical environment, the company focused on three factors. The group continues to enforce strict cost and efficiency management and is also charting a practical, rational, and reliable path toward decarbonization.

In addition, according to him, the company is sending a clear signal to policymakers about what will happen if Germany can no longer rely on a stable steel industry.

«The impact extends far beyond the key sectors. Policymakers themselves have clearly taken note of defense and infrastructure issues», he emphasized.

Chief Financial Officer Birgit Potrafke added that the results of the steel production, processing, and trading divisions for the first six months were unsatisfactory and are not viable in the long term. Therefore, the company is accelerating internal measures aimed at improving profitability and ensuring liquidity, which have already delivered visible results. Under the P28 Performance Program, Salzgitter generated an additional profit of €48 million in the first six months of the year.

For the full year 2025, the company expects sales in the range of €9–9.5 billion, with EBITDA between €300 and €400 million.

Recall that in 2024, Salzgitter increased steel production by 11.9% compared to 2023, almost reaching 6.4 million t. Last year, the company’s external sales dropped to €10 billion, down from €10.8 billion in 2023, due to a decline in average revenue from steel products and a weak order book in the steel processing division.