Steel products group Voestalpine is not planning to cut steel production as yet although the sovereign debt crisis and nervousness in the financial markets represent a significant risk factor for the steel industry.

The Austrian steelmaker is currently producing crude steel at full capacity, or a rate of about 2 million tonnes per quarter, similar to the beginning of this year.

Ms Monika Primenz a spokeswoman for the company told Reuters that it is not planning to cut production as yet as it is not expecting a sustained decline in the level of demand from its most important customer segments, which include the automobile, mechanical engineering, energy, railway infrastructure and aviation industries.

She added that "The indicators from these customer industries have signaled a mostly stable development of demand for the coming months. Nevertheless, a spreading of the debt crisis and the nervousness of the financial markets (also spreading) to the real economy remains a significant risk factor."

(Sourced from Reuters)