Germany’s leading steel producer, Thyssen-Krupp, reported a net loss of up to EU1 billion , caused mainly by the depression in the automobile sector, the biggest client of the company. With 32,000 workers put on short-time work and a bridging loan of EU1 billion from the state-owned Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW), Thyssen-Krupp is muddling through at the moment. Losses will likely increase in the near future, because Thyssen-Krupp sold its most profitable branch, the production of elevators for industry, for office buildings, and for larger residential complexes, for EU17.2 billion. If the payment does not come as planned at the end of July, the steel producer will be in deep trouble, since the revenue from the sale was to be used to compensate for deficits in the other deficitary branches.