Hot-dip galvanizing line of thyssenkrupp Galmed S.A. in Sagunto/Spain back in operation

The hot-dip galvanizing line of thyssenkrupp Galmed S.A. in Sagunto/Spain has gone back into operation. Alongside other consolidation measures under the “Best-in-Class Reloaded” optimization program at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG, the site near Valencia was shut down in 2013 due to low capacity utilization as a result of the economic crisis in Southern Europe. Technical preparations for the restart have been under way for several weeks, and production is now being ramped up. Work on building the workforce for the Spanish plant is also continuing step by step.

Recently there has been an increase in demand from various sectors for hot-dip galvanized steel sheet, which thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG produces at several sites. For example, the trend in the European automotive industry has been very positive lately, as reflected in the number of new car registrations in Europe. New registrations in 2015 were up by around nine percent from the prior year. Demand for hot-dip galvanized products is also growing in other sectors. Against the background of this clear improvement in the overall situation thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG and thyssenkrupp Galmed S.A. have now decided to reopen the line in Sagunto.

Some of the people needed to operate the line have already been recruited, more will follow in the coming weeks. Former employees of thyssenkrupp Galmed S.A. have been offered the opportunity to return to their old jobs at the site near Valencia. When the line was closed down in 2013, a social plan was agreed with the works council that among other things provided for a move to the parent company thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG. The roughly 50 Spanish employees who transferred to various sites in Germany have now been offered the opportunity to return to their former jobs should they so wish. Many of them have taken up this offer. “This step underlines our flexibility in responding quickly and appropriately to the requirements of the market and our customers,” says Andreas Goss, CEO of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG. “We are confident that our Spanish site will perform well again.”