Steel Division

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

In a European steel market that remains challenging, the Steel Division continued its solid performance in the first quarter of the new financial year 2025/26.

Despite the increasingly positive news – such as the announcement of extensive infrastructure investments in Germany and the new European security strategy, both expected to generate a series of direct and indirect benefits for the steel industry – economic growth in Europe stagnated in the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year. As a result, demand and price momentum in the European steel market remained subdued.

The Steel Division’s strategic focus on high-quality steel sheet for technologically sophisticated applications – along with its long-term access to market segments for special steel grades – enabled it to continue its satisfactory performance in the 2025/26 financial year.

Demand for steel sheet in the automotive industry remained stable overall. While car production figures in Europe declined compared to the previous year, and no positive trends were visible at the start of the new financial year, the Steel Division was able to maintain volume deliveries at a good level through reliable performance and active market development.

The construction industry continued to stagnate at a low level. Neither the European Central Bank’s interest rate cuts nor the slightly improved sentiment were able to provide any positive impetus in the first quarter of 2025/26.

A similar trend was seen in the household appliance and consumer goods industry, which suffered not only from weak new construction activity but also from the generally gloomy economic sentiment.

In addition to private households, industry was also reluctant to invest, resulting in low demand for steel sheet in the mechanical engineering sector. This trend, which persisted throughout the previous financial year, continued at the start of the new financial year.

In the energy sector, demand remained extremely dynamic. The Steel Division supplies high-tech heavy plate for international pipeline projects and the offshore industry. The increasing complexity of technological requirements for the materials used confirms the division’s strategy and positions it as a preferred supplier in this segment.

After the US administration, elected in autumn 2025, imposed blanket tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, these tariffs were raised to 50% on June 4, 2025. The Steel Division exports only a very small volume of steel products to the USA – mainly grades that are not produced locally, meaning that customers remain dependent on imports.

In the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, prices for raw materials relevant to steel production were somewhat volatile but declined overall. Iron ore – the most important raw material in steel production – remained largely stable at around USD 100 per ton. The price of metallurgical coal was more dynamic, rising from around USD 170 per ton to just under USD 200 per ton during the first quarter, before falling back to around USD 180 per ton. Steel scrap prices fluctuated slightly around USD 350 per ton during the reporting period.

The implementation of the greentec steel project – aimed at transforming steel production at the Linz site – also proceeded according to plan in the first quarter of 2025/26.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE KEY FIGURES

Revenue in the Steel Division declined by 4.6% year on year, from EUR 1,566.1 million in Q1 2024/25 to EUR 1,493.8 million in Q1 2025/26. While shipment volumes increased slightly, the price trend was down year on year. However, the product mix in the Heavy Plate business segment had a positive impact on revenue year on year.

Lower raw material and energy costs, along with improvements in volume and product mix, could not fully offset the decline in selling prices. As a result, EBITDA for Q1 2025/26 amounted to EUR 189.8 million, down 17.4% from the previous-year figure of EUR 229.7 million. The EBITDA margin decreased from 14.7% to 12.7%. EBIT fell by 23.2%, from EUR 164.2 million (margin 10.5%) to EUR 126.1 million (margin 8.4%).

As of June 30, 2025, the number of employees (FTE – full-time equivalents) in the Steel Division decreased by 2.1% to 10,586 (compared with 10,816 on the same reporting date in the previous year).