ThyssenKrupp stainless unit extends Xmas shutdown

FRANKFURT Nov 25 (Reuters) - ThyssenKrupp (TKAG.DE), one of the world's leading producers of stainless steel, will extend the Christmas holiday break at its largest stainless cold-rolled unit, Germany's Nirosta, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

"Normally we have anywhere between 10 days to two weeks break, but this year it will be four weeks," he said.

The decision affects its German sites in Dusseldorf and Bochum as well as its main Krefeld steel mill.

Steel prices have collapsed and major steelmakers around the globe have been cutting production, delaying shipments and reassessing expansion and investment plans.

The spokesman declined to say how much volume would be taken out of production due to the extended closure, but assuming 250 working days in a year the two fewer weeks would correspond to about 42,680 tonnes.

In the fiscal year to September 2007 -- the last year for which data is currently available -- Nirosta delivered 1.07 million tonnes of stainless steel, accounting for just under half of the group's overall figure.

ThyssenKrupp reports full-year results on Friday. (Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner; Editing by David Holmes)