VOEST-ALPINE STAHL AG, VA STAHL#

VOEST-ALPINE STAHL AG, VA STAHL, steel manufacturing group founded in 1993 as a result of the reorganisation of the state-owned (see) Austrian Industries AG ( (see) VOEST), privatised via the Stock Exchange in 1995. As of 1998, 38.8 % of its shares was held by the state-owned (see) Oesterreichische Industrieholding AG (OeIAG), while 19.9 % was held by (see) VA Technologie AG, and 41.3 % constituted distributed holdings. VA STAHL operates its most imporant facilities at Linz and Donawitz, with smaller works at Bruck an der Mur, Kindberg, Krems an der Donau and Traisen and other sites; in addition, the group has numerous subsidiaries and interests in Austria and abroad (including a 19.05 % interest in VA Technologie AG, and a majority of shares in (see) VAE AG). For 1997/98 VA STAHL, with a staff of 14,687, reported consolidated sales in the order ATS 34.65 billion. Crude steel production totalled 4.85 million tonnes. One of the company's most successful products is head-hardened railway rails of up to 120 m length, which can only be manufactured at Donawitz. The company's CEO is P. (see) Strahammer (since 1994).