Swiss Steel saw 2024 revenue decline on lower shipments and lower prices, but the firm reduced its pre-tax loss due to non-recurring sales of assets.

The automotive sector, as Swiss Steel’s largest customer segment, experienced a further decline in demand compared to the prior year; as did the German mechanical and plant engineering sectors. Customers are cautious about new investments due to economic and financial uncertainty, Kallanish reads in an ad-hoc release by the company.

Swiss Steel managed to raise its market share in 2024, in a deteriorating stainless and engineering steels market. Still, sales volume was at 1.056 million tonnes in 2024, down by 5.1% compared to an already weak prior-year level.

The average sales price of Swiss Steel’s special bar qualities (SBQ) was €2,256/tonne ($2,446), which was 4.5% less than in 2023. Unlike in other years, the company does not provide a breakdown of price development by product category. As a consequence of the lower sales and prices, revenue decreased 14.3% to €2,432 million last year.

The group sold operations last year in Portugal, Argentina, Colombia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as its former headquarters in Düsseldorf. The effects of these measures improved Ebitda in 2024 to negative €35.5m versus negative €102.2m in 2023.

The group’s recent strategy was largely characterised by “aligning the workforce and production capacity with market demand to ensure long-term competitiveness”. This includes the reduction of approximately 800 full-time positions at European production sites and the sales organisation in the first quarter of 2025. Overall, Swiss Steel reduced its workforce at end-2024 by 15.5% compared to 2023, to 7,450 employees. The majority of the reduction stems from changes in the scope of consolidation.