29 November 2024 – The air is once again thick at Germany’s largest steel manufacturer in Duisburg. The corporation wants to push through reforms and has already threatened to cut jobs several times this year. Now the trade unions are opposing these plans. And iron ore prices at DCE and SGX rose again on Friday.
Dispute over possible job cuts at German steel giant
As so often in the last 20 years, the German steel giant thyssenkrupp Steel Europe is once again in crisis. The company has already threatened to cut jobs in its steel division several times this year. Now, just a few days ago, the big headline again that 11,000 jobs are to be either cut or outsourced.
No sooner had the news spread than the IG Metall trade union, as expected, came out against any form of job cuts and drew red lines that must not be crossed.
Unions reject the Group’s cost-cutting plans
While wage cuts are being negotiated at German car manufacturers, the thyssenkrupp Group’s cost-cutting plans appear to be meeting with little favour from the trade unions. Negotiations with the Group’s top management have so far been categorically ruled out. It is remarkable how the trade unions are deliberately exerting further destructive influence on a major corporation that is being kept alive purely by billions in taxpayers’ money.
Steel manufacturer in urgent need of reform
The steel manufacturer is in urgent need of reform. At 35 hours per week, the working hours of German steel workers are among the lowest in the world. At the same time, labour costs per tonne of crude steel are disproportionately high, especially for German steel manufacturers that produce via the blast furnace route. So perhaps it is time to think about a few alternative models to achieve a 10% saving in labour costs. This could also be achieved by increasing working hours or giving up holidays or public holidays.
Nowhere do people work as little as in Germany
An article in the German Bild newspaper on the subject of ‘No one works as little as the Germans’ is very timely. In order to make Germany more productive and efficient again as a business location, it is time for subsidies to be cut back and no longer used to support the anti-competitive behaviour of trade unions.
Iron ore prices in Asia continue to rise
Iron ore prices in Asia continued to rise on Friday. Prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) and the Singapore Exchange (SGX) both rose by around 1.0%.
According to media reports, Chinese industrial activity is likely to have risen slightly for the second month in a row in November, while property prices should stabilise after a slower decline this year and next until 2026, according to two Reuters surveys.
Expectations that China will adjust to the weaknesses in its economy ahead of a second Donald Trump presidency also supported the firmer outlook for the world’s largest steel industry and its demand for iron ore.
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