but stay with us up next. how to bounce back from a difficult year. we have an interview with the head of germany, the 2nd largest steel manufacturer and david levitz. thanks for watching for more news. check out d, w dot com. the cost cost about does not. why does that mean? i think it's like, now i'm leave them under the new host. join us for an exciting explanation of everything in between. this is a video and audio production 5 d, w. i hope the video will tune in the

it's one of germany's largest steel and machinery manufacturers. results gets a g now says it had a rocky 2023 marks, but higher borrowing and energy costs, or go to a grub. le, is the old jobs get to any joins meet now for more good or thank you for coming onto our show. 20. 23. your earnings before taxes. less than a 5th of what it was in 20222022. rather. your industry knows ups and downs. how bad was this year? well actually i think you have to see um the the, the, the year 2023 in the complex of 222220. 22 has been a record here for us as good time for the entire state industry in germany, due to the war of russia against the a crane, which, which led to an extreme prices on the steel side in 2020 to 20. $23.00 is more of a normally, in the, in the drum and european steel context. we have started in the relative fairly well

. we've been seeing sort of marketing duration in the 2nd half of the year. and not only is the effective but, but more, more general tends to and the lower results. however, looking at it from it from inside skip that perspective. i think it shows that we have been able to, to, to navigate through that to you with great resilience and end of robustness. and hence, i'm, i'm, i, i acknowledge that the year 2023 comes out lower than $22.00. however, it has been a robust and the end result, india for us, and shows also a good progress on strategies that's good to i gave 2030, which is a strategy around the colonization and secondary to some of those same impediments or hurdles that you faced in 2023 continue into this year, including higher energy costs, higher borrowing costs. how do you see this year coming out to? well and you, you ride the point out at the side of 2024 being being on the same level, then we left 2023. however, for sickness also to that at least at least leads to

a personal positive outlook for the 2nd half of this year. i need to advise that have come down a quite dramatically. and so we are on the, on the electricity side, on, sorry, on the gas side, we're now on the same level. then we have been before the cobit crisis. and also electricity has come come down substantially compared 220232022. and so we see some, some developments there. however, still this today is a regulatory needs to discuss energy cost, especially for the, for the energy intensive industry in europe. cuz the compared to other regions globally, with the wisdom and a high level. so stephanie, this is something we need to further work on and further discuss about the overall, the overall development through the year. at least give some, some reason to believe that the 2nd half of this year could be, could be stronger also in the interest rate. but seeing the, the inflation coming down so, so that might be also be movement there. is it fair to say that energy costs are

your biggest problem right now? is a company well, given that we're in the transformation and move away from the c o, 2 intensive for steel making with coal, to green electricity and green hydrogen, of course. and the energy costs, especially on the electricity side, play an important role for us. and in increasing role for us hands also the, the, the very intensive debate with regulate the, with the policy makers to find a way to find a level playing field, piece of the, our global competitors. yes. you have a major green still project in the works. you've references several times called solid coast. you received this past year, significant funding from the german government does this current situation when we look at energy prices? when we look at borrowing costs, does it make this project more necessary, or is it bound to face some of the same uncertainties? so well, 1st of all, i think why do we do this? cuz uh they say they said there's a global believe that's

a reduction of c o 2 is necessary. so and, and the, the steam industry being one of the large amount of c o 2 needs to change. so in that problem won't go way or that that, that's the problem won't go away. and irrespective of what sort of input parameters to say. so what we meet when, what do we need to do is to stay firm on our transition. and then discuss sort of the, the input parameters as electricity as boring costs, etc, with the respective policy makers and regulatory bodies. to find a way to, to, to ensure that in this phase of vulnerability in the transformation, the companies that should stay in, in europe. and this is a political statement, not necessarily mine, but, but politically backed, that they also have a chance to, to compete on a global scale. when you look at the us and how they've tried to make climate related, manufacturing more attractive. and then you look at europe, where you did receive a considerable amount of funding, but through much links to your process, i would imagine how do you compare the 2?

is it where it should be or, or it does more work, need to be done in europe. as well, you're absolutely right. the infection reduction act is a um, a strong tool in the us to um, to sort of boost the energy transition and hands also low, low c o 2 industry. and in europe, i would say on the total volume number in terms of, of yours is on the, on the same level in the us. but the process is much more cumbersome, is much more lengthy and, and sort of a clear focus on reducing bureaucracy on a clear focus on, on supporting industry, on a shorter term is, is necessary. and certainly with all the elections going on and your of this year, that's at least hope that they say this will be in focus of the policy makers to reduce bureaucracy and, and the, and increase the speed of that transformation. and also increase the, sucking to that we uh that, that this transformation will also be

a success. we know that another focus here in europe is building arguments, building weapons and weapon systems that i would imagine require a lot of steel. does that potentially feed into you're still manufacturing and produce more demand? what certainly they say this is a, this is a new situation for us. this is sort of steel for security purposes is back on the agenda. it hasn't been on the agenda for many, many years. it is back on the agenda. we're able to support the industry with this type of, of steeled rates. so let's get the we are we have a product for this. so yes, we're going to see an increase in demand here in total volume though it's going to be, it's going to be mine. it's not that this will increase volumes to a logics. and if you look at the total scale of a, for example, the dots get the with production of, of $6000000.00 tons of steel per year. this will remain a small in a fraction. but yes, this market is back on the agenda. absolutely. unfortunately,

i have to say, but this is why we are, or there's been in the past decades, a lot of hand wringing about steel and metals manufacturing in europe and how competitive it is. we've seen recently the top to the top. that group has removed their planning is it has now, so it is planning to remove to blast furnaces from the u. k, which has spared a discussion there about the ability to create virgin steele. that ability will be gone from the u. k. after those glass furnaces are removed, how important is that capability? how do you look at this discussion when you see these kinds of announcements as well in, in, in my books and, and also talking to, to industry place and policy makers. i think there's a, there's a clear understanding that based industry should remain in europe and hence also the steel industry. and why is that? cuz we are in the middle of the transformation. i think if we can show that transformation works in europe, is something we can export to other regions. that's one. secondly, what we have seen over the last is, is how important brazilians in the logistical chain is and how sort of,

how big distortions can actually be a smaller ones, even in the, on the logistical side, how big the impact is on the industry side. so having resilience in the, in the supply chain is important to our customers, hence they appreciate us being close by. they appreciate us being an hour and d partner in the same sort of cultural framework. so, so we see a clear ask from our customers to really be a close by and, and have a and a close link to them. and not only disagree, but also from, as i said from an r and d, and from a customer relationship perspective. so, so in my book, it is not only about sort of whether we can, we can import steel from somewhere else. and with a g or political developments that we have seen over the last years, that also becomes more, more challenging and, and you add risk to your, to your business profile, but also sort of with a clear focus into clear,

ask from our customers so. so for me, based industries, steam industry has a clear place in europe. at the same time, we've seen salt, scripture has diversified a way from just traditional steel manufacturing, a bright spot this past year was your technology unit. it makes things like packaging or at least machines that make produce packaging. i believe, for beverage in the food industry. and this has become very important for you guys . is that fair to say? it is kind of diverse vacation. you're not just providing still for autos, for, for potentially, for weapons, but also for consumer products in a way. uh, yeah, right. well, we are very happy with the development of alternative technology unit, especially kids as the delivery of those, those parts of the packaging machinery for, for beverages. and we've seen sort of that they have been able to grow despite a um, a weaker machinery markets, especially outside europe. and so, so our whole concept of being more diversified and planning on different economical cycles. played out very nicely and 23 and will also play out in 24 as cage as had

the a record or the intake and 23, which we then with which carries us through 24. so we should also expect a strong results from the cage as also this year. so. so in this, in this sense, our diversification has played out very nicely and 23. and we're certainly also in 24. we're wrap up by asking you about what's coming in the future. we know this, the suspension of us steel tariffs is set to run out in march 2025. by that time there could be president donald trump back in office. how concerned are you about that situation as well? i think we have a chance here, but the between the us and europe to play it would to, to, to further work on the global, sustainable steel agreement which shows that the 2 regions that actually want to reduce the c o 2, the footprint and steam industry can play a major role in here. i'm a bit disappointed to have to say that the, those discussions have halted just project christmas last year. i still put some

hope into a continuation between those 2 regions this year and they used to come. and irrespective of, of which administration will be in office a for the, for the future, i believe that those 2 regions should play together and play along because they have the same similar agenda when it comes to call them neutrality in common reduction. and, and showing this kind of, of coordination and cooperation with certainly help both industries, the american industry but also ours. so, so i'm, i would rather sort of strength and the boundaries between those or the, the, the, the connection between those 2 regions. then then further separate them. and then finally, while we're on the topic of politics have to ask you, we've talked a lot about the price of energy and there were german government efforts to lower that price through an industrial prize. they ultimately failed, especially as there has been something of a budget crisis in the country. do you have any thoughts when it comes to the german government's reluctance to take on debt and what that means for industry

such as yours as well? i think what we, what we certainly need to further discuss is, uh the, the difference between sort of spending money here and now consuming as a name and consumption or investing for us to support that the, the government has given this 1000000000 euro that we, another 1300000000 euro private capital to this 1000000000 is an investment into the future industry in germany and to future jobs in germany in to future tex a payments in germany. so i, i'd rather call this an investment into the future of this country, then a subsidy or anything like this. and i think that's also the way government has to look at those support schemes that they are that they have handed out. and they certainly will also in the future, it is an investment into the structural development of the, of the over of germany, of europe. hence, i would be very much in favor of, of focusing on invest investments also as a country because as i said,

it is about jobs. it's about to sort of social welfare. it's about texas and it makes sense. all right, good luck to see you of, of thoughts. good. thank you very much. thank you for having me. the into the conflicts own with tim sebastian presidential elections in russia of the usual full gun conclusion with nothing left to charles, not even the best in jail of the leading opposition figure. i'll explain the vomit, my guess is the russian come and say to andre collapsed with all the time he rushing erosion center in moscow was nevada. is such a serious, correct? to put in that it has to be to conflict. so next on d, w gets ready for an exciting, auburn toyota look surprised. hi,

irish. and i'm ready to dive into the hands of human to you. have you have a one, does not delete it from port yet. please go to the spot on the on expected side to side presidential elections in russia of the usual full gun conclusion. there's nothing left to charm, not even the best in jail. is the leading opposition? figure elect saying the valet whose name postern couldn't bring himself to speak. my guess is the russian commentary to andre kalashnikov, who had split kindly. he rush, are you ready? just center in moscow. wasn't a valid me such a serious threat to put in his regime because he had to be killed even to be imprisoned. that when it was a threat to pretend that competitor may be invisible in an informational field about the same time, quite mighty and way to compress it for,

for the parts of the population. and because of that it was.