Thyssenkrupp's Divergent Paths: A Major Asian Deal Amidst European Steel Crisis

Thyssenkrupp's plant unit wins a major Korean contract while its steel division idles a French plant due to cheap Asian imports, highlighting the conglomerate's divergent fortunes.

The contrasting fortunes within Thyssenkrupp are on stark display. As its core steel business grapples with a severe existential threat, its plant engineering subsidiary has secured a significant international contract. This divergence underscores the industrial conglomerate's current reality, where technological prowess in one unit is overshadowed by structural pressures in another.

Thyssenkrupp Uhde has landed a major order from South Korea's POSCO E&C to modernize a steel plant in Pohang. The project centers on installing a new low-emission coke oven battery, utilizing Uhde's proprietary EnviBAT® technology. This system, already deployed in over 30 batteries and 2,100 ovens globally, significantly cuts emissions through intelligent pressure monitoring. The deal, which also includes a MonoClaus® unit and a tar separation plant, replaces outdated equipment from the 1980s and continues a partnership with POSCO that dates back to the 1970s.

This Asian success story arrives as Thyssenkrupp's steel division faces a brutal market environment. The company plans to idle production of electrical steel at its Isbergues plant in France from June to September, affecting around 600 employees. The culprit is a flood of cheap Asian imports, which Thyssenkrupp says have tripled since 2022 and now account for over 50% of the European market volume. The electrical steel produced in Isbergues is a critical raw material for transformers, making it essential for Europe's power grid expansion.

Consequently, the company's near-term fate is increasingly tied to political decisions in Brussels. Thyssenkrupp is negotiating with the European Commission to double existing steel tariffs. While the European Parliament is set to vote on the matter by the end of June 2026, new rules could only take effect from July 1, 2026—too late to prevent the planned production halt in France. Parallel EU trilogues are ongoing to cut steel import quotas by 47 percent, with the strengthened trade protections representing the most critical short-term lever for the business.

Investors have two key dates on the radar. From April 13 to 17, Thyssenkrupp's Materials Services and Steel divisions will showcase hydrogen-optimized steels at the Tube trade fair in Düsseldorf. The more consequential event follows in May 2026: the half-year report, which should provide a clearer picture of the steel segment's structural health alongside the EU's tariff decision.

The stock market reflects the prevailing uncertainty. Shares closed at €8.54 on Friday, trading roughly 14 percent below the 200-day moving average and down nearly 12 percent since the start of the year. This discount persists even as the group pushes its domestic decarbonization agenda, exemplified by the ongoing construction of the central direct reduction tower in Duisburg, a project aimed at saving up to 3.5 million tonnes of CO? annually.

The overarching narrative remains one of a company split. While technology units like Uhde deliver international reference projects, the traditional steel operation is structurally under pressure, dependent on external policy decisions it cannot control. The coming months will test whether regulatory relief can arrive in time to stabilize the core business, allowing the group's greener ambitions to fully capture investor attention.