Voestalpine to ask for state loan guarantee

VIENNA Oct 2 (Reuters) - Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine (VOES.VI) will apply for a state loan guarantee of 300 million euros ($436 million) under a new Austrian law as credit markets are still tight, the company said.

The group will be asking for the maximum amount possible under the Austrian law, in which the government set aside as much as 10 billion euros of loan guarantees for Austrian companies in an attempt to unstuck the credit crunch.

A spokesman for Voestalpine said the company had no urgent liquidity need but was still encountering a difficult market for long-term credit, which the government guarantee would help to address.

Voestalpine had no plans to follow Austrian brickmaker Wienerberger (WBSV.VI) and sell new shares. It got shareholder permission at its last annual general meeting to issue as much as 2 billion euros worth of new stock. (Reporting by Alexandra Schwarz, writing by Boris Groendahl; editing by Hans Peters)