The steel company Georgsmarienhütte (GMH) in Lower Saxony has warned that high electricity prices could put an end to its production in Germany.

"We are getting closer to the abyss every day," said managing director and shareholder Anne-Marie Großmann on Monday evening at the Wirtschaftspublizistische Vereinigung Düsseldorf (WPV). "From May 2021 to today, our electricity costs have risen by 71 percent, while production has remained the same." This is due in particular to the transmission grid fees, which have more than doubled in that period and now account for 45 percent of the electricity price. A new federal government must act urgently and relieve the industry.

Georgsmarienhütte is one of the major German steel companies, along with Thyssenkrupp, Salzgitter and ArcelorMittal. The group, which is also active in other business areas, employs around 6,000 people and most recently generated a turnover of 2.3 billion euros.

"None of our competitors abroad have this energy cost development," emphasized the entrepreneur, the daughter of the founder of the GMH Group and former RWE boss Jürgen Großmann. In 2019, Georgsmarienhütte had energy costs - electricity, gas and network fees - of 37 million euros. "Today we have 84 million euros." When asked how long GMH could hold out, she replied, "If it continues like this and there are no signals, then it will only be a few months." She could not say how many months. "We will work every day to hold out longer."

The heavy industry has been drumming up relief on energy costs for years. The demand for a lower industrial electricity price did not prevail in the coalition government. There was agreement in politics, including from Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), said Großmann. "But there were always reasons why it didn't work." This would have to change with a new federal government. The industry needs a signal and a clear sign. Then it could come to terms with it and invest either in Germany or abroad.

(Report by Tom Käckenhoff, edited by Sabine Wollrab. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)