Mr Wolfgang Eder CEO of voestalpine said that "I'm confident enough to say, the first half of the new business year will be markedly better than the second half of 2011-12."

voestalpine, whose steel business represents 30% of the group sales, said it would benefit from price hikes as business conditions improve.

The Linz based company cut steel capacity by a tenth late last year as consumers spooked by the weak economy bought fewer big ticket items such as fridges and washing machines and the construction industry remained weak.