ThyssenKrupp, Germany's biggest steelmaker, will curtail production at its Steel Europe unit by 500,000 metric tons in the last quarter of 2011, an insider has told Reuters.
The unit, which has an annual steel output capacity of 13.5 million metric tons, will however refrain from shutting down blast furnaces, the source added.
Meanwhile, ThyssenKrupp has declined to comment officially, saying only it would react to changes in incoming orders and that it was observing the situation.