Communication with stakeholders

These include, for example, employees, competitors, customers, suppliers, investors, analysts, public agencies, and NGOs (see graphic). Stakeholders are those groups of persons who are impacted directly or indirectly by the company’s activities and which, therefore, have a justified interest in these activities.

voestalpine is in regular contact with many of its stakeholders. For example, discussions with local communities, representatives of public agencies and associations, and other organizations are part of daily business for the responsible departments.

Communication with other stakeholder groups is structured and takes place in regular intervals, as described below.

Employees

Worldwide, more than 46,000 employees are working for voestalpine in around 500 companies on five continents. They represent a central stakeholder group of the Group.

Employee survey

Every three years, voestalpine employees participate in a survey about their job satisfaction and also their commitment. The last survey took place in October 2013. It included 42,000 persons in 21 countries and was conducted in 13 languages. The employees were informed of the results of the surveys. Points of criticism, suggestions, and proposed improvements were gathered and implemented to the extent possible.

Direct communication with members of the Management Board

In regular intervals, members of the Management Board hold discussions with employees at production sites throughout the entire Group. The topics range from ongoing projects and new economic developments to occupational safety.

Steel Evening

The so-called Steel Evenings take place once a month in Linz. Various topics are discussed at these events, ranging from occupational safety and employee health to environmentally-friendly and innovative products. Interested employees can dialogue with the speakers (members of the Management Board and executives), ask questions, and participate in discussions.

Investors

As equity holders and opinion leaders on the capital markets, investors and analysts are important dialogue partners for an exchange-listed company such as voestalpine. The CEO, the other members of the Management Board, and the Investor Relations Department are constantly engaging in a dialogue with these stakeholders, for example, at investor conferences, road shows, or during plant tours. At regular intervals, voestalpine holds a “Capital Markets Day” in order to provide concentrated information to analysts and investors about the newest developments and trends. voestalpine also offers this target group special tours through production facilities and product presentations.

voestalpine also informs private shareholders within the scope of numerous events, particularly at the Annual General Meeting, but also during plant tours, informational events, and investor fairs, such as the “Gewinn” trade fair or “Money World.”

In addition to personal contacts, the company informs institutional investors and private share- holders by way of quarterly reports and the Annual Report, which can be downloaded from the voestalpine website.

Customers and suppliers

voestalpine is in an ongoing dialogue with its customers and suppliers. In addition to communications required by day-to-day business, these stakeholder groups are integrated into the research-and-development network. voestalpine is also in a continuing dialogue with customers in order to be able to recognize their needs and requirements early on.

This enables the company to develop products that not only fulfill customers’ requirements but surpass them. voestalpine takes advantage of its dialogue with customers and suppliers to frequently emphasize the importance of its Code of Conduct and to acquaint them with the company’s requirements with regard to human rights and compliance (see chapter “Ethical corporate management”).

Advocacy and special interest groups, platforms, and networks

voestalpine is a member of numerous industrial and professional associations, such as, the World Steel Association, EUROFER, the German Steel Institute (VDEh), ASMET (Austrian Society for Metallurgy and Materials), the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, and the Federation of Austrian Industries. It is active in these associations and bodies in order to actively support joint objectives and to ensure that the positions and the expertise of voestalpine are heard during legislative proceedings that are relevant for the company.

voestalpine is a regular participant in the preparation of the sustainability report of the World Steel Association. The steelmaking companies who participate in the annual preparation of this report, provide current data on sustainability indicators.