In releasing its profit guidance for the financial year 2012, the Salzgitter group notes that the economic outlook for Germany and the eurozone as a whole has deteriorated further due to the severe problems caused by Europe's debt crisis. This development falls markedly short of the expectations underlying the profit guidance released by the Salzgitter Group on 15 May 2012.

Against this backdrop, many steel processors and stockholding steel traders are expecting business to stagnate. Having replenished their stocks in the first quarter, they have now adopted a wait-and-see stance, Salzgitter states. This has had a notably negative impact on the demand for rolled steel. The pressing necessity of raising prices to counteract the in part exchange rate induced persistently high level of raw material costs now only seems possible in the third quarter of 2012. Under these circumstances, breakeven can no longer be anticipated for the Salzgitter Group's Steel Division this year. If, however, international demand for German industrial goods remains healthy - and particularly given the currently moderate inventories of rolled steel - it is feasible that the steel market might stage a recovery in late summer.

In contract, the other Tubes, Trading, Services and Technology divisions are developing in line with the results forecasts in May, the company said.

Salzgitter continues to anticipate stable sales at minimum and a positive pre-tax result for the Group in the lower- to mid-double-digit million euro range.

As in recent years, Salzgitter makes reference to the fact that opportunities and risks from currencly unforeseeable trends in selling prices, input material prices and capacity level developments, as well as changes in the currency parity, may considerably affect performance in the course of the financial year 2012. The resulting fluctuation in the consolidated pre-tax result may be within a considerable range, either to the positive or to the negative, Salzgitter noted.