Cronimet, Outokumpu complete deal

Outokumpu has acquired a 10 percent minority stake in Cronimet North-East GmbH.

scrap at outokumpu

Photo courtesy of Outokumpu

Finnish stainless steelmaker Outokumpu has completed the transaction to acquire a 10 percent stake in stainless steel recycler Cronimet North-East GmbH, according to a news release issued by Cronimet Holding GmbH, Karlsruhe, Germany. The transaction was announced in November of last year.

With this partnership, the companies say they are furthering their cooperation with the objective of optimizing the raw material cycle and using regionally processed scrap to produce stainless steel in Europe.

Cronimet, which buys, blends and ships stainless and alloyed scrap, says it retains full operational control over the Cronimet North-East GmbH companies involved, with no plans for Outokumpu to expand its shares in Cronimet North-East or to acquire an interest in other companies of the Cronimet Group.

The companies say they also are partnering on innovation and research into technologies that contribute to the decarbonization of stainless steel production and to reduce costs through better planning and waste within the supply chain.

"This partnership is a further step towards achieving the sustainable development goals of a low-carbon footprint in the production of stainless steel through the use of regional scrap and shorter transportation routes to Outokumpu's stainless steel mills," says Jürgen Pilarsky, CEO of Cronimet Holding GmbH. “I also see our collaboration as a chance to learn from each other and as a great opportunity to drive our CO2 reduction ambitions forward together as we are both committed to the SBTi [Science Based Targets initiative] targets. And, moreover, this partnership is an excellent example of the implementation of the 17th U.N. goal, which promotes the formation of partnerships to achieve the sustainable development goals.”