Thyssen Krupp Stahl AG is to increase its prices for hot strip, cold-rolled sheet and coated products by EUR 20 per ton after the summer vacation, with effect from 1 October 1 2001 at the latest. The production cutbacks in the summer quarter have contributed to a market stabilisation so that the climate for a price recovery has improved, especially on the core Western Europe market. ThyssenKrupp Stahl expects that destocking by customers will come to an end toward the end of the fiscal year (30 September), at which time demand will again be in line with actual steel consumption. Consumption remains at a high level due to good capacity utilisation levels in most steel-using sectors. The capacity utilisation trend in the automobile industry in particular is assessed positively.
