Dec. 1 -- ThyssenKrupp AG plans to reduce the effect of nickel prices on its stainless-steel unit by upgrading a German plant to produce a type of the alloy that doesn’t need nickel.

The company will boost its ferritic stainless-steel output by building new facilities in the German town of Krefeld, replacing a plant in Benrath, Chief Executive Officer Ekkehard Schulz said today.

The 244 million-euro ($319 million) Krefeld site will replace the Benrath facilities, which will cease operations in 2015, meaning production can be maintained, Schulz told reporters at a press conference at the company’s headquarters in Essen, Germany.

Ferritic stainless steel currently accounts for about 30 percent of ThyssenKrupp’s stainless-steel output, Schulz said.

Separately, the company said it will move up a plan to build a stainless steel plant in Alabama and start the facility in the fourth quarter of 2012 rather than in 2014.