Thyssenkrupp sticks with green steel plant, but calls for 'adjusted' conditions
FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF (Reuters) -Thyssenkrupp is sticking with plans to build a 3 billion euro ($3.5 billion) green steel site in the German city of Duisburg after rival ArcelorMittal scrapped similar plans, but called on the government to ensure more favourable conditions to make it work.
"We are sticking to our plan to complete the first direct reduction plant in Duisburg," Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (TKSE) said in a statement.
"However, for the transformation to succeed under economically viable conditions, the framework conditions need to be adjusted and more speed is needed to expand the relevant infrastructure, particularly with regard to the hydrogen network and the securing of competitive energy prices."
($1 = 0.8678 euros)
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Video President Donald Trump came back into office promising no new wars. So far, he's kept that promise. But he's also left much of Washington — and many of America's allies — confused by a series of rapid, unexpected moves across the Middle East. In just a few months, Trump has reopened backchannels with Iran, then turned around and threatened its regime with collapse. He's kept Israel at arm's length — skipping it on his regional tour — before signaling support once again. He lifted U.S. sanctions on Syria's Islamist leader, a figure long treated as untouchable in Washington. And he made headlines by hosting Pakistan's top general at the White House, even as India publicly objected. For those watching closely, it's been hard to pin down a clear doctrine. Critics see improvisation — sometimes even contradiction. But step back, and a pattern begins to emerge. It's not about ideology, democracy promotion, or traditional alliances. It's about access. Geography. Trade. 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Pakistan borders Iran, influences Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and maintains ties with Gulf militaries. For all his unpredictability, Trump has always had a sense for economic leverage. That may be what we're seeing here: less a doctrine than a direction. Less about grand visions, and more about unlocking chokepoints. There's no guarantee it will work. The region could turn on a dime. And the corridor could remain, as it is now, a partially built concept waiting on political will. But Trump's moves suggest he's trying to build the conditions for it to restart — not by talking about peace, but by making peace a condition for investment. In a region long shaped by wars over ideology and territory, that may be its own kind of strategy. Tanvi Ratna is a policy analyst and engineer with a decade of experience in statecraft at the intersection of geopolitics, economics, and technology. She has worked on Capitol Hill, at EY, at CoinDesk and others, shaping policy across sectors from manufacturing to AI. Follow her takes on statecraft on X and Substack.