Final end for Maxhütte: 300 jobs in Sulzbach-Rosenberg gone!

Final end for Maxhütte: 300 jobs in Sulzbach-Rosenberg gone!

An era ends: The Maxhütte pipe factory in Sulzbach-Rosenberg finally closes its doors. Insolvency administrator Jochen Zaremba announced on Monday that the company had to close due to a lack of investors and unworkable price agreements. A good 300 employees are affected by this closure and have already been laid off. Negotiations with the works council about a social plan that is intended to offer support to the affected employees are currently on the agenda.

But what led to this setback? The roots of the closure go back to insolvency proceedings in 2002, after which the plant was renovated and continued to operate, but ran into difficulties again. Another bankruptcy case in 2022 brought short-term hope when an investor was found. Ultimately, the ownership of the assets that did not belong to the insolvent company and the inconsistent price expectations of the owners placed a heavy burden on discussions about a takeover. br.de reports that the Bavarian state government's interim owner attempt to save the plant with around 250 million euros was ultimately unsuccessful.

Years of tradition are coming to an end

Maxhütte can look back on over 150 years of tradition in the steel sector and was once one of the most renowned steelworks in Germany. Thousands of employees once found work here, but the company's economic base has become increasingly unstable in recent years. The closure comes at a time when the entire steel industry is suffering because high energy costs and a sharp drop in price pressure from abroad are endangering competitiveness. In the first half of 2025, crude steel production in Germany fell by 12% to just 17.1 million tons, marking the lowest level since the 2009 financial crisis. tagesschau.de argues that pressure from abroad, combined with falling domestic demand, particularly in the construction, mechanical engineering and automotive sectors, is significantly affecting steel production.

Because of the tense situation, the general manager of the Steel Association, Kerstin Maria Rippel, is calling for a steel summit at the political level in order to improve the framework conditions. In this critical phase, companies like Salzgitter and Thyssenkrupp are under pressure to lower their forecasts while at the same time implementing austerity programs.

A painful farewell

The closure of the Maxhütte pipe mill will not only have a severe impact on the affected employees, but will also have an impact on the entire region and the local economy. While negotiations on a social plan are already underway, it remains unclear how many of the 300 affected employees will soon be faced with the challenge of finding a new job. Maxhütte's fate symbolizes the profound difficulties in a sector that urgently needs reforms and new perspectives.