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Weaker orders from companies in the automotive industry forced the steel group ArcelorMittal to restructure its production, with implications for the Czech Republic. In Karviná, the ArcelorMittal Tubular Products group also produced pipes for cars.
However, at the end of last year, this part of production was relocated within the group to Spain and the Karvina factory will instead focus on a different type of product.
“We gradually started losing volume on ongoing projects. The overall production of automobile companies fell and new projects did not materialize. So the problem was more on the customer side,” René Fabik, CEO of ArcelorMittal Tubular Products, told Seznam Zprávy.
“The situation continued and did not improve not only during the pandemic, but also in the aftermath.” At the same time, we had to repay the investment. We started having problems and knew we had to do something. In the end, it was decided at the highest level that this technology would be stopped in our country. This happened at the end of October last year. “Today all the technology has moved to Spain,” added the factory manager from Karviná.
Karvinský ArcelorMittal already faced a drop in demand from car manufacturers in 2021, and the situation has not changed much since then. Due to the current reduction in the production program, the number of jobs has fallen by 40 to 50. The Moravian-Silesian company “jäkly”, which specializes in the production of steel profiles, currently employs around 200 people.
“It was a painful decision. We informed employees and customers about everything in advance. We transferred most of the employees to another area. “In some cases we have proposed termination of the employment relationship, of course with all the benefits provided for in the collective agreement,” explained Fabik, the managing director of the Karviná-based company.
Until 2019, the ArcelorMittal Group also owned Nová Huta in Ostrava, now known as Liberty Ostrava. After selling the Ostrava steelworks, he maintained the production of pipes and steel profiles in Karviná.
Among the suppliers to the automotive industry, ArcelorMittal is by no means the only company that has had to change its production due to the situation in the automobile factories. At the end of last year, for example, the German company Bosch announced layoffs at major suppliers. Due to the switch to electromobility, Hyundai is also planning to cut jobs in Nošovice.
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