The energy crisis hit Thyssenkrupp hard — СЕО

The steel division of the German concern Thyssenkrupp is feeling the impact of a sharp rise in energy prices. This was stated by the CEO of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, Bernhard Osburg, reports Reuters.

The top manager spoke at the official opening of a new hot-dip galvanizing plant worth more than $243 million in Dortmund.

“The energy crisis has certainly hit us hard,” he noted.

According to Bernhard Osburg, this area requires as much natural gas as a small city. That is why the company welcomes the German commission’s proposal to set a fixed gas price for industry at 7 Eurocents/kWh from 2023, which applies to 70% of consumption.

This is a proposal from a German expert commission, which was tasked with developing plans to mitigate the impact of high gas prices on households and companies. As Reuters reports, on October 10, it presented the German government with a package plan worth €96 billion ($93.2 billion).

According to the plan for the industry, 70% of the annual gas consumption (2021 is the reference year) is subject to the purchase price limitation of 7 Eurocents/kWh (approximately 16 Eurocents).

The remaining 30% of consumption depends on significantly higher market prices, which actually encourages companies to save.

In total, the scheme has a volume of €25 billion ($24.2 billion). Companies with a consumption of more than 1.5 million kWh per year are admitted to it, their number, according to the commission, is 24-25 thousand. In particular, these are “heavyweights” such as Thyssenkrupp.

The scheme will start on January 1, 2023, and will be valid until April 30, 2024.

“This proposal must be implemented. It gives us the opportunity to plan the security of investments and future tasks,” noted Bernhard Osburg.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the governments of Europe from September 2021 to September 2022 allocated almost €500 billion to protect citizens and companies from the sharp rise in gas and electricity prices. According to analysts, state intervention has already acquired a structural character.

As GMK Center reported earlier, European governments have allocated almost €500 billion to protect citizens and companies from the rapid rise in gas and electricity prices. On September 30, the energy ministers of the EU countries approved the first package of emergency measures aimed at curbing the rapid increase in the price of electricity. The governments of the EU member states also presented their plans for overcoming the energy crisis in September.