Annual Report 2005/06 - voestalpine

eport of the Management Board
Management report 2005/06
This Management Report is also to be considered the Group Management
Report voestalpine AG, as we make use of the provision in accordance with
Section 267(4) of the Austrian Commercial Code (HGB) which permits the
consolidation of the two reports.
eConomiC environmenT
Dynamic growth of the global economy
– europe is lagging behind
The global economy grew by 4.4% in 2005,
accelerating its growth despite the increase
in oil prices to new record levels. The primary
driver of economic growth was again
China whose dynamic uptrend, however,
had a positive effect on the entire Asian region.
The growth rate was 3.5% in North
America last year, however, it has weakened
considerably since.
In Europe, the most important market of the
voestalpine Group, economic development
remained moderate in 2005. The economic
growth rate in the euro zone was only 1.3%,
while that of the EU (25) was only marginally
higher with 1.5%. With a real growth of
its gross domestic product by 1.9%, Austria
was slightly above the EU average. In the
most important single markets for the
voestalpine Group, 2005 brought only slight
(Germany +0.9%) or even stagnating growth
(Italy +0.1%).
In contrast, the 10 new member states of the
European Union showed economic growth
that was much more dynamic as has been
the case in the past. With an increase of
4.6%, the growth rate there was even
higher than the global average.
Development of the most important
customer industries
In the most important customer industries
of the voestalpine Group, the development
of the automotive industry followed a similar
course as the overall economy: While production
increased in Asia and Eastern
Europa, it continued to decline in Western
Management Report
Annual Report 2005/06
2