Dear Business Partner,
Against the background of the current crisis in Ukraine, we would hereby like to take the opportunity to inform you about the current status of our production and order situation in Linz.
voestalpine has been closely monitoring the looming deterioration of the situation in the Ukraine and started to prepare contingency measures at an early stage.
The first priority was and is the safety of our staff in our Kiew sales office, which has been temporarily closed. Our team and their families have been evacuated from the most critical areas. Sales and customer service are currently operating with the support of our Poland sales office.
Secondly, the supply of raw material has been addressed. Since voestalpine sources a share of its iron ore feedstock from Ukraine-based suppliers, alternative sources of supplies and transportation routes have been identified and activated. Hence, our production is currently unaffected by the crisis and is running according to plan. Since the overall geopolitical situation is dynamic, a designated internal task force is assessing the situation on a regular basis and is ready to swiftly implement countermeasures, should the need arise.
In parallel, we are diligently tracing possible developments within the European and national natural gas supply and are in continuous exchange with the relevant authorities, such as the Austrian Ministry of Energy and the national energy regulator E–Control. The natural gas is still supplied as planned and currently no restrictions are announced.
voestalpine is well prepared to accompany you through these volatile times. In order to support our service efforts, we are kindly asking you to communicate any demand changes or obstacles in your ability to receive deliveries to our sales and customer service specialists.
Of course we will continue to keep you updated and will inform you immediately should there be significant changes to the situation.
In addition to our great solidarity with you, our valued business partners, our thoughts are with our Ukrainian friends, families and people in need in these difficult days. voestalpine Steel Division condemns any kind of violence and aggression and wishes the Ukrainian people all the best for the coming days and weeks.
Best regards,
Wolfgang Mitterdorfer
Member of the Management Board
voestalpine Steel Division