voestalpine Comments on Furthering Its Expansion in North America
06/05/2013 - Steel-based technology and industrial goods group voestalpine says that with its sustainable expansion strategy, no less than € 2.5 billion should be available for its North American activities.
The steel, technology, and industrial goods group voestalpine, which is one of the top three players of the industry in Europe, presented its results for the business year 2012/13 in Vienna and London that show significant increases in all reporting categories. The operating result (EBITDA) rose compared to the previous year by 11% to € 1.45 billion, and profit from operations (EBIT) gained even more with a 21% boost to € 854 million. As a result, the EBITDA margin went up from 10.8% to 12.5%, while the EBIT margin increased from 5.8% to 7.4%. These figures emphasize once again the Group's leading position in the European steel industry with regard to profitability, technology, and quality. With major investments planned for the coming years, the exchange-listed voestalpine Group intends to grow significantly in the U.S.
By 2020, the Group is planning to increase its global revenue to € 20 billion. With its sustainable expansion strategy, no less than € 2.5 billion should be available for its North American activities. Today, the Group already has more than 24 production facilities. Additionally, voestalpine is currently investing € 550 million in a new direct reduction plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. When fully operational, the plant, with around 150 employees, will produce 2 million tons of highest quality HBI (hot briquetted iron), a pre-material for steel production. The concept behind this project has caught the attention of the steel industry worldwide.
"We examined a total of 17 sites in eight countries for this project, the largest foreign investment in the Group's history to date. In the end, Texas was the most convincing in terms of all the key criteria, including logistics, energy supply, a well-educated workforce, and the political environment," explained Wolfgang Eder, chairman of the Management Board of voestalpine AG. "This investment also provides the voestalpine Group an additional growth option in North America in the long run," Eder added. "The fact that, as an industrial enterprise with a vision for the future, we were welcomed with open arms also played a role in deciding in favor of this site," said Eder. "It would have been impossible to build a comparable plant in the European Union, not least because of a lack of competitiveness in terms of operating costs." voestalpine is currently also investing € 50 million in a plant for high-strength automotive body parts and components for premium car brands in Cartersville, Georgia.
voestalpine in North America: 2,125 employees and almost € 1 billion in revenue
During the last business year, the voestalpine Group was already generating 8% of its € 11.5 billion in total revenue in North America. This corresponds to almost € 1 billion. In the U.S. alone, 2,000 employees generated sales of € 850 million. € 124 million were generated in Canada. The largest single company is voestalpine Nortrak, with its roughly 1,000 employees and seven production and distribution sites, North America's market and technology leader in the railway turnout business. The Group is also strongly represented in the automotive, special steel, energy, and aviation sectors. Incidentally, around 10% of voestalpine shares are held by North American investors.
voestalpine is a steel-based technology and industrial goods group with its headquarters in Linz, Austria. It runs 500 production sites and sales outlets in more than 50 countries on five continents. The Group has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1995. With its top-quality flat steel products, voestalpine is one of the leading partners of the automotive and consumer goods industries in Europe and the oil and gas industries worldwide. It is also world market leader in railway turnout technology, special rails, tool steel, and special sections. In its business year 2012/13 voestalpine reported revenues of more than € 11.5 billion and an operating result (EBITDA) of € 1.45 billion. It employs roughly 46,400 people worldwide.
