Compared to the previous year, sales in western Europe increased by 9%. Most of this increase was once again the result of business activities in Germany, where sales grew by a good two thirds in comparison with the previous year.
This was due above all to the air separation plant at Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH in Salzgitter, which was commissioned in August 2010. Business activities in France and Switzerland also drove growth in the region.
Compared with the sales figures in the previous year, Central Europe recorded a decline in sales of almost 6%.
This can be attributed exclusively to the industrial gas activities in the Baltics and Ukraine which are no longer fully consolidated and which from 1st January 2011 were only consolidated as shares in associated companies according to the equity method.
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