The company has held preliminary talks with North Rhine-Westphalia's regional government on possible aid, but it will actively pursue the matter after the federal elections in September, the magazine added, without citing sources.

Thyssenkrupp declined to comment.

After terminating sale talks with Liberty, Thyssenkrupp is now focusing on cutting costs at its steel unit, Europe's second-largest, to catch up with rivals, hoping to eventually list the business or merge it with a peer.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Additional reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff; Editing by Maria Sheahan)