In 2025, the company’s loss reached €311 million, compared with €197 million in 2024

The Swiss steelmaker Swiss Steel, headquartered in Lucerne, has announced the next phase of its restructuring programme against a backdrop of significant financial losses. These measures will affect production sites in Germany. This was reported by SRF, citing an interview given by the company’s CEO, Frank Koch, to the SonntagsZeitung.

The company’s chief executive did not give specific figures regarding the planned redundancies, but noted that this move would enable Swiss Steel to significantly reduce its dependence on the German automotive sector. The main aim of the restructuring is to organise the operation of production facilities in such a way that they can return to operating profit despite a significant contraction in the market.

Swiss Steel has already streamlined its structure, halving its workforce from 13,000 to 6,500 employees. The next step will be to restore the company’s financial health, the details of which have not yet been disclosed. According to management’s plans, the company is set to return to operational profitability from 2028, having become significantly smaller and more focused.

The need for such drastic measures stems from the group’s difficult financial situation. According to the SonntagsZeitung, Swiss Steel recorded a loss of €311 million last year, whilst in 2024 the figure stood at €197 million.

The EU’s new protective measures on steel imports have placed further pressure on the company’s business. The duty-free export quota for Switzerland has been reduced by approximately 35%, which has hit the Lucerne site particularly hard. Swiss Steel’s management is currently in contact with the EU and the Swiss government. Frank Koch expressed well-founded hope that a compromise solution would be found.

It is worth recalling that in 2025, Swiss Steel delisted from the Swiss stock exchange SIX following extensive restructuring and reorganisation processes that had been ongoing in previous years.

The situation on the German steel market remains difficult. Sales of steel products in August this year fell by 17.8% compared with the previous month and by 2.7% year-on-year, to 727.5 thousand tonnes. The decline in sales for August affected all product categories.