ThyssenKrupp Steel executives leave as tensions rise

Seven board and supervisory board members of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe have left their positions given deepening strife with the chief executive of parent company ThyssenKrupp.

There has been an ongoing dispute between ThyssenKrupp chief executive Miguel Lopez and board members of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, including the latter's chief executive Bernhard Osburg, for some months now over the future of the business. Osburg and two other board members from Steel Europe have now stepped down, as has the chairman of the Steel Europe supervisory board Sigmar Gabriel and three other supervisory board members.

The members have "lost all confidence in the will and ability of the chairman of the executive board of ThyssenKrupp AG to co-operate appropriately", Gabriel said in a note after a meeting today. He said Lopez has carried out an "unprecedented" and public campaign against the executive board of Steel Europe, damaging its ability to act and breaching trust.

The Steel Europe board had proposed a plan to align the business' production to its recent shipments, meaning a decline from about 12mn t/yr to 9mn t/yr, and to exit from steelmaker HKM's joint venture with Salzgitter and Vallourec. HKM is viewed as a high-cost slab producer. However, Lopez felt the plans did not go far enough to restructure the business, calling for a deeper reorganisation and reduction in headcount.

A spokesperson for union IG Metall said it "strongly" supports Osburg and the outgoing chairman, and criticises the actions of Lopez. The union is not legally allowed to call for strike action, but has called for protests over the departures.

One executive said the dispute could threaten the future of Steel Europe as an entity.

By Colin Richardson