Reuters reported that Kloeckner & Co does not expect any developments with regard to a potential tie-up with larger peer Thyssenkrupp in the near-term. Kloeckner chief executive Gisbert Ruehl said “Of course you cannot rule out anything in the future, who knows what will happen in five or ten years.”

Speculation about a tie-up between the two companies has flared up regularly in recent years even though no deal has materialised.