Cooperation with local communities

As one of the leading companies in the stainless steel sector, Outokumpu seeks an active presence in the local communities in which it operates. The Group is already the largest industrial employer in communities such as Avesta, Degerfors, Långshyttan (Kloster) and Storfors in Sweden, in New Castle in the US, and in the Kemi-Tornio region in Finland. Our decisions to invest, to postpone planned investments or possibly close operations have a major influence at local level.

Although the 12-month postponement of almost all Group investments announced in December 2008 has clearly had an impact on our production sites and the surrounding communities in Sweden and Finland, Outokumpu's strategy has not changed and all these investments continue to be of strategic importance to us.

As in previous years, numerous visits by stakeholder groups to Group facilities were organised at many of our production sites to further improve relationships with local communities. As defined in Outokumpu's Communications policy, the Group sponsors sports, culture and a variety of events at local level, and also charity work. In 2009, however, lay-offs and redundancies have meant that the level of this input has been reduced, sometimes to zero. For this reason, information concerning Group-wide donations which would normally be reported in the economic responsibility section has not been collected.