Voestalpine shuts down Camtec plant in Linz

The unit specializes in the production of products for the automotive and machine-building industry

Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine is shutting down its cam and sliding element business at the Camtec plant in Linz. The full exit is expected to be completed by the end of the 2025/2026 financial year. This is stated in the company’s press release.

This decision was reached amid rising energy and labour costs, as well as massive price pressure from non-European competitors, primarily from China and India. As a result, the production of these products became uncompetitive on the international market. In addition, low demand from the European automotive and engineering industries, which are the main consumers of the products, also has a negative economic impact on the division. In the 2023/2024 financial year, Camtec’s revenue was €12 million.

‘Despite market leadership in the German-speaking region and a recent improvement in capacity utilization, production at the Linz site is therefore no longer economically viable,’ the company states.

Voestalpine has 53 employees who will lose months of work due to the shutdown, but it is offering them transfers to other departments at the Linz plant, as well as individual support for any career transition.

As GMK Centre reported earlier, Voestalpine reduced its revenue by 8.5% year-on-year – to €16.68 billion in the 2023/2024 financial year. Revenue reached the second-highest amount in the company’s history, after a record €18.2 billion in the previous financial year. EBITDA decreased by 34.5% y/y – to €1.67 billion

In the 2024/2025 financial year, the company expects the market trends that emerged in the previous financial year to continue. Voestalpine’s EBITDA is forecast at €1.7-1.8 billion.