During the business year 2023/24, the Supervisory Board fulfilled its responsibilities under the law and the Articles of Association, holding nine plenary sessions, three meetings of the Audit Committee, eight meetings of the General Committee and three meetings of the Compensation Committee.
In both the General Committee and the Audit Committee meetings, the Management Board provided comprehensive oral and written information regarding the development of the company’s business as well as its financial management and position.
In addition to these regular reports, the Supervisory Board gave particular attention in the business year 2023/24 to the appointment of members and the composition of the Management Board as of April 1, 2024, the Strategy 2030+, including the HR strategy, the long-term supply of energy and raw materials, the critical topic of sustainability as well as the compensation policy for members of the Management and Supervisory Boards. Another focus of the Supervisory Board meetings was the Management Board’s report on the implementation of the first steps towards decarbonizing steel production at the Linz and Donawitz sites. This concerns the replacement of two of the five blast furnaces currently in operation with one electric arc furnace at each of the two sites, which was approved by the Supervisory Board in March 2023. As part of the plan developed under “greentec steel” with an investment volume of EUR 1.5 billion, the main plants were awarded in the business year 2023/24. Commissioning of the two units is planned for 2027. From this point onwards, up to 30% of the Group’s current CO2 emissions can be saved. This equates to about 5% of Austria’s overall annual CO2 emissions, making the project the country’s largest singular undertaking in terms of climate action. The company’s long-term aim is carbon-neutral steel production. To achieve this goal by 2050 at the latest, the Group is researching several new processes and investing in pilot projects exploring alternative pathways in steel production. These include research projects such as the H2FUTURE hydrogen pilot facility at the Linz plant for manufacturing and using “green” hydrogen on an industrial scale, as well as the testing facilities at the Donawitz plant for carbon-neutral steel production based on direct reduction of iron ore using hydrogen. Further research projects are dedicated to the storage and reuse of unavoidable residual emissions. The Management Board’s reporting also included the construction of the new stainless steel plant at the Kapfenberg site, another key Group project in terms of both innovation and sustainability. The world’s most modern plant of its kind was put into operation in the business year 2023/24.
In addition to questions of compensation, the General Committee focused primarily on filling positions on the Management Board as of April 1, 2024, and the preparations for the election of the new Supervisory Board at the 2024 Annual General Meeting.
The Compensation Committee monitored compliance with the compensation policy in the employment contracts of the Management Board members and prepared a proposal concerning the compensation policy for the Management Board members for submission to the Supervisory Board and subsequently to the Annual General Meeting of voestalpine AG on July 3, 2024.
The Audit Committee concerned itself chiefly with the preparation and review of voestalpine AG’s Consolidated and Annual Financial Statements, the auditor’s independence, and topics related to the current and future structure of the internal control system, the risk management system, and Internal Audit.
The representatives of the auditing firm, Deloitte Audit Wirtschaftsprüfungs GmbH, attended all three meetings of the Audit Committee in the business year 2023/24 and were available for questions and discussions.
At its meeting on March 19, 2024, the Supervisory Board also carried out the self-evaluation required under Rule 36 of the Code and, after asking the Management Board to leave the room, used a list of questions to address the general cooperation between the Management Board and the Supervisory Board, the quality and scope of the documents made available to the Supervisory Board, and organizational issues.
