the on the out. i don't go way up next will germany is heavy industries fed better this year than last. we speak to the ceo. one of the german is largest steel manufacturers. okay. how else is in berlin from me and the news group. thanks. the cost cost about is why does that? because now i'm liza. the new host will join us for an exciting exploration and everything in between. moses video and audio production, 5 d, w. i hope video with unit it's one of germany's largest steel and machinery manufacturers results because

a g now says it had a rocky 2023, marked by higher borrowing and energy costs. well, good grub, the is the old. so let's get you and he joins me now for more good. i thank you for coming onto our show. 20. 23. your earnings before taxes. less than a 5th of what it was in 20222022. rather. your industry knows ups and downs. how bad was this year? well actually, i think you have to see uh the, the, the, the, the year 2023 and the contracts of 2020 to 20. 22 has been a record here for us as good time for the entire state industry in germany, due to the war of russia against the ukraine, which, which led to extreme prices on the still side in 2020 to 20. 23 is more of a normally, in the, in the german, in europe in still context. we have started into the relative fairly well. we've been seeing sort of marketing, tory,

asian and the 2nd half of the year. and not only is the effective but, but more, more general tends to and the lower resides. however, looking at it from it from inside to get that perspective, i think it shows that we have been able to, to, to navigate through that to you with great resilience and, and robustness. and hence i'm, i'm, i, i acknowledge that the year 2023 comes out lower than $22.00. however, it has been a robust and the end result in get for us and shows also good progress on strategies. let's get to i gave 2030, which is a strategy around the colonization and secondary to some of those same impediments are hurdles that you faced in 2023 continue into this year, including higher energy costs, higher borrowing costs. how do you see this year coming out to? well and you, you brought the point out at the start of 2024 being being on the same level, then we left 2023. however, the 1st stiffness also that at least at least leads to a personal positive outlook for the 2nd of of this year. i need to advise that have

come down a quite dramatically. and so we are on the, on the electricity side, on, sorry, on the gas side, we're now on the same level. then we have been before the cobit crisis. and also electricity has come come down substantially compared 220232022. and so we see some, some developments there. however, still this today is the regulatory needs to discuss energy cost, especially for the, for the energy intensive industry in europe. cuz the compared to other regions globally, with the wisdom on the high level. so certainly this is something we need to further work on and further discuss about the overall, the overall development through the year. at least give some, some reason to believe that the 2nd half of this year could be, could be stronger also in the interest rate, we're seeing the, the inflation coming down so. so that might be also be movement there. is it fair to say that energy costs are your biggest problem right now? is a company well,

given that we're in the transformation and move away from the c o, 2 intensive for steel making with coal, to green electricity and green hydrogen, of course. and the energy costs, especially on the electricity side, play an important role for us. and in increasing role for us hands also the, the, the very intensive debate with regulate the, with the policy makers to find a way to find a level playing field piece of the, our global competitors. yes. you have a major green steel project in the works of references several times called solid coasts. you receive this past year, significant funding from the german government does this current situation when we look at energy prices? when we look at borrowing costs, does it make this project more necessary, or is it bound to face some of the same uncertainties? well, 1st of all, i think why do we do this? cuz uh they say they said there's a global believe that the reduction of c, o 2 is necessary. so and, and the, the steam industry being one of the large amount of c o 2 needs to change. so in

that problem won't go away or that that, that's the problem won't go away. and irrespective of what sort of inputs around it does say, so what we meet when, what do we need to do is to stay firm on our transition and then discuss sort of the, the input parameters as electricity as boring costs, etc, with the respective policy makers and regulatory bodies to find a way to, to, to ensure that in this phase of vulnerability in the transformation, the companies that should stay in, in europe. and this is a political statement, not necessarily mine, but, but politically backed, that they also have a chance to, to compete on a global scale. when you look at the us and how they've tried to make climate related, manufacturing more attractive. and then you look at europe, where you did receive a considerable amount of funding, but through much links to your process, i would imagine how do you compare the 2? is it where it should be or, or it does more work,

need to be done in europe. as well, you're absolutely right. the infection reduction act is a um, a strong tool in the us to um, to sort of boost the energy transition and hands also low, low c o 2 industry. and in europe, i would say on the total volume number in terms of, of yours is on the, on the same level in the us. but the process is much more cumbersome, is much more lengthy and, and sort of a clear focus on reducing bureaucracy and a clear focus on, on supporting industry on a shorter term is, is necessary. and certainly with all the elections going on and your of this year, that's at least hope that they say this will be in focus of a policy makers to reduce bureaucracy and, and the, and increase the speed of that transformation. and also increase the, sucking to that we uh that, that this transformation will also be a success. we know that another focus here in europe is building arguments,

building weapons and weapon systems that i would imagine require a lot of steel. does that potentially feed into you're still manufacturing and produce more demand? what certainly they say this is a, this is a new situation for us. this is sort of steel for security purposes is back on the agenda. it hasn't been on the agenda for many, many years. it is back on the agenda. we're able to support the industry with this type of, of steeled rates. so let's get the we are we have a product for this. so yes, we're going to see an increase in demand here. in total volume though it's going to be, it's going to be mine. it's not that this will increase volumes to a large extent. if you look at the total scale of a, for example, the dots get the with production of, of $6000000.00 tons of steel per year. this will remain a small in a fraction, but yes, this market is back on the agenda. absolutely. unfortunately, i have to say, but this is why we are, as there's been in the past decades, a lot of hand wringing about steel and metals manufacturing in europe and how

competitive it is. we've seen recently the top to the top. that group has removed their planning is it has a now, so it is planning to remove to blast furnaces from the u. k, which has spared a discussion there about the ability to create virgin steele. that ability will be gone from the u. k. after those glass furnaces are removed, how important is that capability? how do you look at this discussion when you see these kinds of announcements as well in, in, in my books and, and also talking to, to industry place and policy makers. i think there's a, there's a clear understanding that based industry should remain in europe and hence also the steel industry. and why is that? cuz we are in the middle of the transformation. i think if we can show that transformation works in europe, is something we can export to other regions. that's one. secondly, what we have seen over the last is, is how important brazilians in the logistical chain is and how sort of,

how big distortions can actually be a smaller ones, even in the, on the logistical side, how big the impact is on the industry side. so having resilience in the, in the supply chain is important to our customers, hence they appreciate us being close by. they appreciate us being an hour and d partner in the same sort of cultural framework. so, so we see a clear ask from our customers to really be a close by and, and have a, a close link to them. and not only disagree, but also from, as i said from an r and d, and from a customer relationship perspective. so. so in my book, it is not only about sort of whether we can, we can import steve from somewhere else and with a g or political developments that we've seen over the last years, that also becomes more, more challenging. and, and you add risk to your, to your business profile, but also sort of with a clear focus, undeclared, ask for more customers so, so for me, base industry steel industry has a clear place in europe. at the same time we've seen salts get or has diversified

away from just traditional steel manufacturing, a bright spot this past year was your technology unit. it makes things like packaging or at least machines that make produce packaging. i believe for beverages in the food industry and this has become very important for you guys, is that fair to say it is kind of diverse vacation. you're not just providing super autos for, for potentially, for weapons but also for consumer products and away. yeah, right. well, we're very happy with the development of alternative technology unit, especially kids, so that the lives those, those parts of packaging machinery for, for beverages. and we've seen sort of that they have been able to grow despite a, a weaker machinery markets, especially outside europe. and so, so as our whole concept of being more diversified and planning on different economic cycles played out very nicely and 23 and will also play out in 24 as caged as had the a record or the intake and $23.00,

which we then with which carries us through $24.00. so we should also expect a strong result from the cage as also this year. so. so in this, in this sense, our diversification has played out very nicely and 23 and would certainly also, i'm 24. we're wrap up by asking you about what's coming in the future. we know this, the suspension of us steel tariffs is set to run out in march 2025. by that time there could be president donald trump, back in office. the how concerned are you about that situation? well, i think we have a chance here, but it would be in the us and europe to play it would to, to, to further work on the global, sustainable steel agreement, which shows that there are 2 regions that actually want to reduce the c o 2, the footprint and steam industry can play a major role in here. i'm a bit disappointed to have to say that the, those discussions have halted just project christmas last year. i still put some hope into a continuation between those 2 regions this year and they used to come and irrespective

of, of which administration will be in office a for the, for the future. i believe that those 2 regions should play together and play along because they have the same similar agenda when it comes to call them neutrality and common reduction. and, and showing this kind of of coordination. incorporation would certainly help both industries, the american industry, but also ours. so, so i'm, i would rather sort of strength and the boundaries between those. so the, the, the, the connection between those 2 regions then then further separate them. and then finally, while we're on the topic of politics, have to ask you, we've talked a lot about the price of energy and there were german government efforts to lower that price through an industrial prize. they ultimately failed, especially as there has been something of a budget crisis in the country. do you have any thoughts when it comes to the german government's reluctance to take on debt and what that means for industry such as yours as well?

i think what we, what we certainly need to further discuss is, uh the, the difference between sort of spending money here and now consuming as and, and, and, and consumption or investing for us to support that the, the government has given this $1000000000.00 euro that we add another 1300000000 euro private capital to this 1000000000 is an investment into a future industry in germany and to future jobs in germany in to future tex a payments in jeremy. so i, i'd rather call this an investment into the future of this country, then a, a subsidy or anything like this. and i think that's also the way government has to look at those support schemes that they are that they have handed out. and they certainly will also in the future, it is an investment into the structural development of the, of the over of germany, of europe. hence, i would be very much in favor of, of focusing on invest investments also as a country because as i said, it is about jobs. it's about to sort of social welfare. it's about texas and it

makes sense. all right, good luck to see you of, of thoughts. good. thank you very much. thank you for having me. the into the conflicts own with tim sebastian presidential elections in russia of the usual full gone conclusion was nothing left to charles, not even the best in jail of the leading opposition figure. i'll explain about me, my guess is the russian come and say to andre can last week all the time. he, he rushing your agent center in moscow was nevada. is such a serious? correct? do you have to be to conflict next on d, w? get ready for an exciting out until you look surprised. hi, irish. and i'm ready to dive into the hands of human to do you have you have

a one to delete it from port on this, please go to the spot on the on expected side to side. the presidential elections in russia of the usual full gun conclusions with nothing left to charm, not even the death in jail as the leading opposition figure. i'll explain the valley whose name postern couldn't bring himself to speak. my guest is the russian commentary to andre kalashnikov, who had split kindly. he rush, are you ready just sent that in moscow? was in the valley such a serious threat to put in his regime because he had to be killed even to be imprisoned when it was a threat to pretend that competitor may be invisible in an informational field about the same time. quite mighty. and what.