The European steel industry is being clobbered
But an Austrian firm shows that it is possible to make money making steel—even in Europe
LUSH FORESTS, cowbells ringing and a fairy-tale castle make the alpine foothills above Linz seem alive with “The Sound of Music”. Down in the valley, however, the Austrian city’s skyline is dotted with piles of coal, smoke-belching funnels and the blackened silhouettes of blast furnaces, the home of Voestalpine, an Austrian steelmaker. High-wage, prealpine Linz is not a cheap place to smelt steel. Yet the firm has been adduced as proof that Europe’s steel industry has a future—even as this future once again looks in doubt.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Something good”
Business June 29th 2019
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- The American exception
- Japanese AGMs are getting more boisterous
- Netflix tries to jinn up its prospects in the Arab world
- The European steel industry is being clobbered
- An American ban hits China’s supercomputer industry
- Metro is fighting for its independence
- Will a robot really take your job?
From the June 29th 2019 edition
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