BERLIN (Thomson Financial News) - Salzgitter AG has not been affected by the decline in the price of some steel products, including stainless steel, in the third quarter that prompted peer Kloeckner & Co to issue a profit warning last night, chief executive Wolfgang Leese told Thomson Financial News.

'There is no reason for this to affect Salzgitter,' Leese said.

He confirmed statements made earlier at the annual conference of the International Iron and Steel Institute that the German steel-maker's third quarter followed the positive trend seen during the first half of 2007, during which Salzgitter posted pretax profit of 663.6 mln eur.

'The price of stainless steel in particular has developed negatively due to the dramatic deterioration of nickel prices in past months,' Kloeckner said in a statement last night, adding it now sees its full-year operating profit coming in about 10 pct below last year's level.

Germany's biggest steel maker, ThyssenKrupp AG already said on Aug 10 that it expects falling prices to weigh on results in its stainless steel division in the fiscal fourth quarter to the end of September.

frederik.richter@thomson.com

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