Specialty and stainless longs producer Swiss Steel recently reached an agreement on a plan to reduce the workforce at its production site in Lucerne Canton, in central Switzerland. The move represents another blow to the European steel industry, which continues to struggle.
The Lucerne-headquartered company now plans to reduce up to 50 positions at its Emmenbrücke works by Q2 of this year. The original plan was to reduce up to 80 workers at once, though the company eventually reduced this number by one-third.
“Measures such as leveraging natural attrition and adjustments to organizational structures contributed to reducing the number of redundancies to a maximum of 50 employees,” the company noted.
In the long term, Swiss Steel plans to reduce a total of 130 positions at the site. The firm originally began negotiations with the employee committee, social partners and local authorities in November, citing persistent weak demand and poor economic conditions.
Knowledge is key in navigating steel industry fluctuations. Don’t miss out on MetalMiner’s expert analysis and up-to-date information. Subscribe to MetalMiner’s free weekly newsletter.
Steel Industry Reports State Swiss Steel Saw Declines in 2024
Swiss Steel produces stainless, tool steels and engineering steels for the mechanical engineering, auto and agricultural sectors. The firm has a total of three production assets in Europe.
Aside from Emmenbrücke, this includes the Ugitech site in France and Edelstahlwerke in Germany. As of H1 2024, the company had eight electric furnaces producing 765,000 metric. The company stated in an August 2024 report that this figure reflected a 3% rise from almost 744,000 metric tons.
Meanwhile, sales in H1 of 2024 totaled 629,000 metric tons, reflecting a 6% year-on-year decline from 756,000 metric tons. The company cited continued weakness in key markets, such as automotive and mechanical engineering. Notably, that volume includes sales from Swiss Steel’s Ascometal subsidiary headquartered in northern France.
Overall, company data indicated that gross profits across the group were down by one-third to €447 million ($459 million) from €664 million ($682 million). Price declines for steel in 2024 also led to a 25% decline in revenues from almost €1.86 billion ($1.9 billion) to €1.38 billion ($1.42 billion). Do you know which sourcing tactics are best with steel industry shifts like these? Read the 5 best practices of steel sourcing.
