Clarissa Odewald is leading thyssenkrupp Rasselstein through the change of brands in packaging steel

Andernach in Rhineland-Palatinate is home to the world’s largest production site for packaging steel. Here, thyssenkrupp Rasselstein produces tin-coated or specially chromium-plated blackplate, also called tinplate, of which more than 90 percent is used in packaging. Halfway through the year, Clarissa Odewald became the Chief Sales Officer and Chairwoman of the Executive Board at the only German tinplate manufacturer. The business administration graduate knows the steel business well: she worked for the parent company thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG in Duisburg for 14 years.

Immediately after graduating in business administration, Clarissa Odewald began working for thyssenkrupp Steel and, since 2007, has been active in different positions within the company. Among other things, she was responsible for procurement of mass raw materials and global logistics. “In 2020, I then decided to expand my portfolio and gain experience on the sales side. I switched departments within thyssenkrupp Steel and joined sales management for a year, where I was head of the entire Business Segment Steel.” In 2021, she moved to thyssenkrupp Rasselstein. In her role as Vice President Sales Overseas, Clarissa Odewald travelled a great deal. “That is simply part of the job, as personal interaction with our customers all over the world is very important to us – and that is exactly what sets Rasselstein apart. So I was travelling all over the world from Ecuador to Australia.” In her new role as Chief Sales Chief Sales Officer, she has an array of new tasks, but she still travels to meet with customers. “Right now, however, I am still busy getting to know the different associations and our business partners better.”

As one of the largest producers of packaging steel in Europe, thyssenkrupp Rasselstein supplies about 400 customers in 80 countries. The company from Andernach manufactures packaging steel goods for a wide variety of applications. And as there is a trend for making packaging steel more and more sustainable, the business unit Packaging Steel continues to work on, for example, decreasing the thickness of the material. Currently, the packaging steel manufacturer is facing special challenges: “Right now, we are in a in a very volatile market environment at Rasselstein. Demand simply isn’t as stable and able to be planned for as it was before the Covid pandemic.”

And another challenge, too, is keeping the industry busy: The steel industry is one of the largest emitters of CO₂. This is set to change, which is why thyssenkrupp developed bluemint steel several years ago, a product which reduces carbon emissions in steel production and, thanks to alternative raw materials, boasts a carbon footprint that is up to 70 percent smaller than that of conventional steel. Nevertheless, the production of steel – the raw material for tinplate – still generates CO₂. In the long run, the corporation therefore has plans to prevent carbon emissions by using green hydrogen. “The green transformation has been a major concern of ours for years. Our parent company thyssenkrupp Steel is transforming the entirety of its steel production processes right now. Materials like bituminous coal and related processes will no longer exist in future. For this reason, since the beginning of the year, thyssenkrupp Steel has been building the first direct reduction plant in the docklands area of Duisburg-Walsum.” The long-term goal is to replace coal-based blast furnace technology so that steel production along the Rhine can become net-zero by the year 2045.

“Here at Rasselstein, we also want to reduce our scope 1 to 3 emissions: There are several projects for this purpose, for example a new system for lacquered sheets which we want to use to reduce carbon emissions, as well as locomotives with eco-friendly drives in our own rail traffic between Rasselstein and the parent company.”

As Chief Sales Officer and Chairwoman of the Executive Board, Clarissa Odewald holds no less than two leading positions. “When I started in raw material purchasing in 2007, this was still a world dominated by men. One of the reasons for this was that, both during training for and working on the job, men were still very much in the majority. I myself never had difficulties in further developing my career. I have always been supported by my superiors, and that had nothing to do with the fact that I am a woman. It was always about performance. At thyssenkrupp, this remains true today for both women and men. Everybody can develop their career if they are willing to put in the effort. I enjoy supporting young people very much, no matter whether women or men, and I have one piece of advice for young people: Raise your hand, show interest in new topics and prove that you want to develop your career. Over the last 20 years, it has been good to see more and more women decide on a career in engineering. And this is why we already have women in many management positions at Rasselstein. This field hasn’t been solely a man’s world for quite some time.”