Germany’s largest steel manufacturer, Thyssenkrupp Steel, is once again planning to temporarily suspend production of electrical steel at one of its plants due to high volumes of cheap steel imports from Asia.

Production at the plant in Isbergues, France, is to be halted from June to September, the Duisburg-based company announced on Thursday.

Around 600 employees are affected. They are to receive support from the French government during the period.

The plant in Germany's Gelsenkirchen has a similar number of workers. At the end of 2025, both sites were shut down for half a month.

Since January, Isbergues has been operating at just 50% of its total capacity.

The head of the subsidiary Thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel, Angelo Di Martino, spoke of a "ruinous flood of imports."

The temporary shutdown of the French site was "necessary to to stabilize our company amid further deterioration in order intake," di Martino added.

No comparable measures were planned in Gelsenkirchen, said a spokesman for the steel division.

Import prices were in some cases far below production costs in the European Union.

"We therefore urgently need effective trade protection to establish fair competitive conditions for this strategically important product," he explained.

The company is engaged in constructive dialogue with the European Commission and hopes for the prompt introduction of effective trade protection measures.

Thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel manufactures speciality steels for the energy sector. The material, known as grain-oriented electrical steel, is generally used for power transmission, but is also employed in transformers at substations and in wind turbines.