<link http: www.thyssenkrupp.com en index.html _blank external-link-new-window>ThyssenKrupp said the government and German companies should jointly set up a company to buy key raw materials needed by the industrial sector.
The report quoted Mr Ekkehard Schulz CEO of <link http: www.thyssenkrupp.com en index.html _blank external-link-new-window>ThyssenKrupp as saying that "There is an interest among those in the steel industry for such a company.”
<link http: www.foundry-planet.com topics _top external-link-new-window>Germany, which depends on raw materials from abroad to power its export-driven economy, announced last month a government strategy to secure access to crucial raw materials and called on countries to address the issue together at international talks.
German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle has also urged industrial firms to set up a Deutsche Rohstoff AG or German raw materials company, to find and secure rare earths. But he also ruled out the state's taking a stake in it.
Government sources said Berlin could support the company by giving state guarantees to its investments.
Worries about the potential for inflation as well as scarce resources are prompting talk globally of metals stockpiling, but any such moves by big industrial consumers may aggravate high prices and increase market risks for companies.
ThyssenKrupp has been complaining about volatile and rising prices of iron ore and coking coal, which are used in steelmaking.
Mining companies in April ditched an age-old annual benchmark system for a new scheme that bases each quarter's prices of iron ore on the average spot market price.
Kepler analyst Rochus Brauneiser said that "I am not really sure whether this can ever work. Maybe there is an initiative among major German companies to set up something, but everybody has different interests.” He added that "What politicians can do is to do something like this electric car initiative, where they have set up a body to coordinate and bring together those involved in the issue to make a kind of joint effort.”
