Highlights of the Financial Year 2010January On January 22,
Nord Stream AG
based in Zug, Switzerland,
mandates
our EUROPIPE joint
venture with the
delivery of 65% of
the large-diameter
tubes required for
the second section
of the Baltic Sea
pipeline, thereby
reserving a large
part of the global
leader’s production
capacity well into
the year 2011.
February “Continuity through
Progress” was the
heading of Salzgitter
AG’s first Corporate
Responsibility Report.
The report provides
extensive information
on the ecological,
economic and social
performance of the
Group. It serves to
highlight that sustainability
is a fundamental
principle underlying
all our actions,
which is reflected
in many aspects of
how the company
is positioned: features
include being
progressive and
innovative in the
markets, rooted in our
regions, anchored in
sustainable structures
and geared towards
profitable growth.
March At the Annual Results
Press Conference,
which took place on
March 26, the Executive
Board presents the
2009 Annual Report. It
subsequently engaged
in extensive dialog with
the capital market at
well-attended analyst
conferences in Frankfurt
am Main and London.
The year 2009 has gone
down as one of the most
difficult financial years
in the 150-year history
of the Salzgitter Group.
Thanks to the sound
and broad business
base and the healthy
financial position of the
company, as well as a
program of swiftly implemented
measures, all
the challenges posed by
the crisis were competently
mastered.
Revolution in global
iron ore price negotiations:
The Brazilian
mining company Vale
and Australian BHP
Billiton dispense with
the system of annual
ore price negotiations
which has been in force
for 40 years in favor
of adopting short-term
pricing mechanisms.
This change exposes
the international steel
industry to a hitherto
unknown volatility in
raw materials procurement
and the challenge
of having to adjust
steel product sales
structures to accommodate
this change.
April The Salzgitter Group
conducts extensive
discussions with customers
and partners:
companies from the
Steel, Trading and
Tubes divisions exhibit
at Tube, the world’s
leading tube trade
fair, BAUMA as the
largest exhibition
of the construction
machinery sector, and
HANNOVER MESSE,
the world’s most
important industrial
trade show.
The steel market
shows clear signs of
recovery: order intake
and spot market
prices for flat steel
products and plate
rise swiftly.
EUROPIPE commences
the production and
delivery of tubes
for the second section
of the Baltic Sea
pipeline.
May Publication of the
financial report on
the first quarter of
2010 on May 12:
the ongoing economic
upswing
boosts new orders
and capacity utilization,
and business
prospects brighten.
External sales of
€ 1,924.8 million
nonetheless fall short
of the year-earlier
figure owing to hesitant
recovery in the
market in the first
months of the year.
The consolidated
pre-tax result of
€ – 17.1 million
includes provisions
formed for streamlining
measures and
impairment.
June Almost 1,000 shareholders
and shareholder
representatives
attend the regular
General Meeting of
Shareholders of the
Salzgitter Group, held
on June 8 in the Town
Hall of Braunschweig.
Presence corresponded
to more than 33 million
shares, which is
55% of voting capital.
All items on the
agenda, including
dividend payment
of € 0.25 per share,
were approved by a
large majority.
July Salzgitter opts for
continuity: In an
extraordinary meeting
of the Supervisory
Board of Salzgitter
AG, Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann
is unanimously
appointed as the
successor of Prof.
Dr.-Ing. h. c. Wolfgang
Leese who
will be withdrawing
from the Executive
Board in 2011 to go
into retirement.
The increase in new
orders enables
Salzgitter Flachstahl
GmbH to take blast
Furnace C into
operation again.
August The Salzgitter Group
releases its financial
report on the first half
of 2010 on August 12:
the Group’s positive
performance holds
steady in the second
quarter, delivering
a pre-tax profit.
Salzgitter Flachstahl
GmbH commissions
SMS Siemag AG to
build a belt casting
line. The contract
marks the first time
a production concept
for the casting of
wholly innovative
high-strength steels
has been realized on
an industrial scale.
The advantages of
belt casting technology
reside in considerable
savings on
energy and CO2
emissions in comparison
with conventional
steel manufacturing.
The door to the
industrial production
of HSD® steels (High
Strength and Ductility)
is now open.
On August 25 the
Annual General Meeting
of the share holders
of Klöckner-Werke
AG, in which Salzgitter
Mannesmann
GmbH (SMG) holds
a stake of more than
95%, approves a
resolution through
which the shares of all
the remaining shareholders
are to be transferred
to SMG in return
for compensation
of € 14.33 per share.
September The ramping up
phase of Peiner Träger
GmbH’s second
electric arc furnace
commences. The new
facilities are part of
the “Salzgitter Steel
2012” strategic investment
program aimed
at securing the future
of steelworks in Lower
Saxony.
The ZF Group, one of
the world’s leading
automotive suppliers,
confers awards on
its top suppliers:
assessment criteria
include premium
quality, outstanding
technology, efficient
logistics processes
and competitive cost
structures. Awards
go to Salzgitter AG
in 2010 in the production
material category,
to Salzgitter Flachstahl
GmbH for flat
steel and to Salzgitter
Mannesmann Precision
GmbH for steel
tubes.
October A large number of
subsidiaries belonging
to the Salzgitter
Group demonstrate
their product expertise
for the automotive
industry at the
sixth International
Suppliers Fair (IZB)
in Wolfsburg. The
Group also dialogues
with customers and
partners through
presentations and
discussion panels at
the EuroBLECH Trade
Fair in Hanover.
Salzgitter AG issues
a bond which is
exchangeable into
the shares of Aurubis
AG: the issuance
serves to diversify
funding sources with
proceeds being used
for general corporate
purposes, and the
annual coupon is
fixed at 2%.
November The Group publishes
its Interim Report on
the first nine months
of 2010 on November
12: The Salzgitter
Group has reaped
discernable benefit
from the general economic
recovery and
returned to profitability.
Pre-tax profit
for the period comes
to € 5.7 million and
external sales to
€ 6,192.6 million.
KHS, a leader in
beverage filling technology,
exhibits at
Brau Beviale Trade Fair
2010 in Nuremberg.
The new Innocheck
EBI empty bottle
inspector attracts a
great deal of attention
at the trade fair stand.
Contracts are signed
while the exhibition is
still running.
December The Supervisory
Board of Salzgitter
AG makes personnel
decisions of great
importance in its
regular meeting:
Prior to the meeting,
Prof. Dr.-Ing. h. c.
Wolfgang Leese had
put forward a request
to relinquish his
management of the
Group earlier than
originally planned.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinz
Jörg Fuhrmann is
therefore appointed
to the position of
new Chief Executive
Officer and Chairman
of the Executive Board
of Salzgitter AG, effective
at the earlier date
of February 1, 2011.
At the same time, Mr.
Burkhard Becker, formerly
Chief Financial
Officer of KHS GmbH
and Board member of
Klöckner-Werke AG,
is appointed as
Professor Fuhrmann’s
successor responsible
for corporate finance
and as a member of
Salzgitter AG’s
Executive Board.
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