Thyssenkrupp must commit to $3.3 bln green steel project, Habeck says
Adds context, TKSE management board spokesperson in paragraphs 8-10
By Matthias Inverardi, Tom Käckenhoff and Christoph Steitz
HERNE/DUISBURG/FRANKFURT, Sept 16 (Reuters) -Germany's Thyssenkrupp TKAG.DE must demonstrate its commitment to a planned 3 billion euro ($3.3 billion) green steel site, the country's Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday, days after the company flagged the project's cost may increase.
"It is very important that Thyssenkrupp clearly underlines that it wants to stick with the project," Habeck told Reuters on the sidelines of a visit to North Rhine-Westphalia. "If this doesn't happen, it will be difficult for the entire site," Habeck said, without elaborating.
Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (TKSE), in which Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky owns a 20% stake, last week said the planned direct reduction site in Duisburg could cost more than initially expected.
Two people familiar with the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said the increase could be an additional low-to-mid triple digit million euro sum.
In a statement on Monday, Thyssenkrupp said it was assessing the situation and reiterated it had been informed of the risk of a cost increase.
"We currently assume that the direct reduction plant can be realised under the given framework conditions," the company said in emailed comments.
Steel production is a big contributor to carbon emissions and the industry has been trying to shift to green production that does not rely on fossil fuel.
TKSE is currently at loggerheads with its parent Thyssenkrupp over how much money the steel business needs to survive on its own, a dispute that caused the division's leadership to resign at the end of August.
Dennis Grimm, who has been the spokesperson of TKSE's management board since end-August, said two external reports had been commissioned as a result to independently establish the steel unit's short- and long-term financial health and needs.
The two reports, commissioned jointly with parent Thyssenkrupp AG, are expected to produce results by the beginning of next year, a spokesperson for TKSE said separately.
($1 = 0.8991 euros)
Reporting by Matthias Inverardi, Tom Kaeckenhoff and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Rachel More, Barbara Lewis and David Evans
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