Thyssenkrupp's Steel Division Faces a Pivotal Fortnight: Furnace Works, Green Financing Talks, and a Market Day Loom
Published on 09/01/2026 at 12:32 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Europe's largest blast furnace is going quiet for six weeks, and the timing could hardly be more consequential for Thyssenkrupp's long-running restructuring story. The planned partial overhaul of the Schwelgern 2 unit in Duisburg, which began on Sunday, is designed to shore up the reliability of crude iron output — but it lands in a stretch where the conglomerate is simultaneously renegotiating the financial architecture of its green steel ambitions and preparing to brief investors on the future of the very division that furnace serves.
That briefing arrives on 28 September, when management hosts a capital markets day for the steel business. Market participants have flagged the event as a potential inflection point for a partial listing of the unit, which remains one of the central pillars of the group's broader overhaul. The timing is no accident: the company has been laying groundwork on multiple fronts, from the spin-off of tk accelis — approved by an extraordinary general meeting in August — to advanced discussions over how to fund the €3 billion direct reduction plant in Duisburg.
Financing the green transition, with a pragmatic twist
The most telling development in recent days concerns the financing structure for that flagship decarbonisation project. According to trade media reports, Thyssenkrupp has been in advanced talks with the German federal government and the European Commission to adjust the subsidy conditions so the direct reduction unit can initially operate without hydrogen. The modification would stretch out the timeline for switching to green steel production without calling the project itself into question — a pragmatic accommodation that acknowledges the current realities of hydrogen supply.
Separately, the law firm Freshfields disclosed last week that it had advised the lending banks on a syndicated transformation financing package for Thyssenkrupp AG. The move underscores that the group is securing its strategic pivot on a broad financial base, even as individual project-level negotiations continue.
A mixed bag across the portfolio
The operational picture, meanwhile, is not uniformly bright. Thyssenkrupp Nucera, the separately listed hydrogen subsidiary, cut its guidance for fiscal 2026 after abandoning plans to produce SOEC stacks. While the setback sits with the subsidiary rather than the parent group directly, it serves as a reminder that the conglomerate's hydrogen ambitions are advancing at different speeds across its various units.
The parent company itself, however, has been showing encouraging momentum. For the third quarter of fiscal 2025/2026, which ended on 30 June, Thyssenkrupp reported rising sales and a higher adjusted EBIT, prompting an upgrade to its full-year guidance. That positive surprise has fed through to the share price, which has climbed roughly 15 percent over the past 30 days — though the path has been anything but smooth.
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Share price: solid gains, occasional wobbles
On Tuesday, the stock slipped 1.8 percent to €14.09, a day after closing at €14.35. That pullback followed a 2.1 percent decline on Monday, and the shares now sit about 5.5 percent below the 52-week high of €15.18 reached in late August. The volatility is notable, but the medium-term trend remains firmly upward, suggesting investors are broadly endorsing the restructuring narrative even as individual trading sessions swing.
The upcoming capital markets day now shapes up as the next major test for the equity. Should Thyssenkrupp present concrete steps toward greater independence for the steel division — building on the completed tk accelis separation and the ongoing financing talks — it would mark another milestone in the group's reorganisation. The company has also kept its research credentials in the spotlight, recently marking the tenth anniversary of its Carbon2Chem® initiative, which underscores the long-term commitment to climate-neutral industrial processes.
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For now, the six-week shutdown at Schwelgern 2 reads as a planned technical stage in that journey rather than a setback. The market's focus, quite understandably, is trained on the end of September — the date that should clarify what comes next for the steel business and, by extension, for the conglomerate that has staked its future on getting this transition right.
