German steelmaker Salzgitter has announced that its executive board has decided to close down the operations of HSP Hoesch Spundwand und Profil GmbH (HSP), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Salzgitter AG.
HSP produces steel sections used primarily in water engineering, road and railway construction, civil engineering and environmental protection. Salzgitter said that the declining demand for these products over years has repeatedly led to substantial losses, despite high levels of investment and restructuring endeavors. Since efforts to sell the company to a purchaser with a more cost-effective supply of input material were also unsuccessful, the closure in order to avoid further negative consequences for Salzgitter became unavoidable. Approximately 350 employees are affected by the measure.
In the financial year 2015, the company expects the costs of winding down operations to be in the mid-double-digit million euro range.