Image: oön/fep
The serious traffic accident on the Westautobahn near Ybbs delayed the start of the voestalpine AG Annual General Meeting in the Design Center in Linz. The proxy and President of the Investors’ Association (IVA), Florian Beckermann, was stuck in traffic. The proxy usually represents hundreds of shareholders who have assigned their voting rights to him, so the proxy plays a not insignificant role in subsequent voting. – The core shareholders Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich, the employee foundation and the Oberbank are represented by their own participants with a total of 37 percent.
It started at 10.15 am and started with the usual reading of the paragraphs and formalities. The chairman of the supervisory board and chairman of the meeting, Wolfgang Eder, also paid tribute to his deceased predecessor Joachim Lemppenau, who worked on the supervisory board for more than 20 years.
At around 10:35 a.m., CEO Herbert Eibensteiner began his report on the fiscal year, which ended with record sales, earnings, equity and the lowest level of debt since 2007, according to his summary.
Eibensteiner also spoke in detail about the necessary and already initiated decarbonization of production and warned that electricity costs would vary greatly in different regions of the world and that the company would plan its individual processing steps accordingly. The first phase means that two blast furnaces will be replaced and one electric arc furnace each will be built in Linz and Donawitz. That means a production of 2.5 million tons of green steel from 2027 – whereby “green steel” means a 30 percent reduction in CO2 emissions. In phase 2 – sometime after 2030 – a second electric furnace is to be built in Linz, and the one in Donawitz is to be expanded. That should result in four million tons with 50 percent less CO2 emissions (compared to today). Then one last blast furnace would remain in Linz to replace it, and that would require a leap in technology. “It gets a bit complicated there,” said the CEO. This would require a hydrogen-based technology. Then Eibensteiner went into the technical possibilities on the way there. By 2050 at the latest, seven million tons should be produced emission-free.
It’s about the best technology, the best cost structure. That can be in Europe, but it can also be outside of Europe, says Eibensteiner. With regard to the time dimension, the CEO explained that the Supervisory Board had given the Go. The funding instruments were submitted, a decision should be made in September, the bids will be examined in the autumn and the orders are to be awarded this year.
The CEO told the shareholders – many of whom come from the region and many of whom have worked in the company before – that the investments will also change the silhouette of the company in Linz. The electric arc furnace will be taller than the steelworks.
The general debate started at 11:30 a.m.
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