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Voestalpine restructures automobile component company sites in Germany

Voestalpine will reorganize its automobile part business areas in Germany, including the closure of one of the sites, to respond to falling need and structural changes, the Austrian specialized steelmaker said on Friday.

The plants in Dettingen, Schmoelln, Schwaebisch Gmuend and Boehmenkirch will form a joint production network, with each site focused on picked core innovations, Voestalpine said.

The aim of these measures is to protect the future of the automotive supply segment of the Metal Forming Division in the long term, and with it around 2,000 jobs in Germany, it stated.

Operations in Birkenfeld will be discontinued subject to the result of negotiations with the works council and the IG Metall trade union, impacting about 220 employees, stated the business.

In spite of ongoing investment and improvement measures, the long-lasting slowing down in the macroeconomic environment and associated drop in orders from the vehicle market in the particular product segment imply that it is no longer economically practical to continue operations at the area, it added.

Around a 3rd of the existing workforce of 650 employees in Dettingen might also be impacted by the workers change, according to a statement.

European carmakers are having problem with weak need and increasing costs, with German car manufacturers, in particular Volkswagen, dealing with increased competitors in China from local car manufacturers.

Voestalpine's shares were up 3.3% at 1203 GMT.

(source: Reuters)