European Steel Giant Halts Production Amid Asian Import Surge

Thyssenkrupp idles production of vital electrical steel for Europe's grid, citing a surge of cheap Asian imports and calling for urgent EU trade intervention.

Thyssenkrupp is being forced to idle production of a material critical for Europe's power grid expansion, citing a flood of low-cost Asian imports. The industrial conglomerate has announced sweeping cuts and issued an urgent call for intervention from the European Commission.

A Strategic Material Under Threat

Grain-oriented electrical steel is essential for upgrading electricity networks. Despite this growing demand, Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe is halting its production lines for this specialized product. Management points to a massive surge of cheap imports, primarily from Asia, which has created unsustainable market distortions and compelled the drastic operational pullback.

The company's facility in Isbergues, northern France, has been operating at half capacity since January. A complete production shutdown at that site is now scheduled for the period between June and September 2026. Output at the Gelsenkirchen plant in Germany is also being significantly reduced. These combined measures put approximately 1,200 jobs across both France and Germany at immediate risk.

Import Volumes Skyrocket

Market data reveals the scale of the pressure. Since 2022, imports of electrical steel from Asia into Europe have tripled. Volumes jumped an additional 50 percent in the last year alone. Producers from the Far East, benefiting from substantial global overcapacity, are pushing into the European market with extremely low prices that European manufacturers cannot match.

Sector head Marie Jaroni is leading calls for rapid action from Brussels. She identifies a critical gap in existing EU trade policy: electrical steel currently falls outside established EU tariff quotas and the planned levies for excess volumes. The company warns that without specific protective measures and a restored level playing field, Europe risks losing its technological sovereignty in a key material for its energy infrastructure.

Market and Strategic Repercussions

The challenging market environment is leaving a clear mark on Thyssenkrupp's share price. The stock closed at 7.84 euros in the last session, a decline of over 20 percent from its level a month prior. This places the share price near the 52-week low of 7.15 euros marked at the start of the week and well below its 50-day moving average.

The European Commission, following an investigation launched at the end of March, must soon decide on provisional anti-dumping duties. The steel subsidiary faces the threat of a permanent loss of profitability in what should be a growth market without supportive trade policy. This situation significantly complicates the planned independence of the division, which management has defined as a mandatory prerequisite for the broader corporate restructuring into a financial holding company.