SPD's Scholz offers steel sector help as German election race tightens

FILE PHOTO: A combination of four images shows placards of Germany’s top candidates for the September 26 German general elections being placed on large boards. The top row shows Armin Laschet of the Christian Democratic Union Party CDU and Olaf Scholz of Germany’s Social Democratic Party SPD. The bottom row shows Greens Party candidate Annalena Baerbock and Christian Lindner of the Free Democratic Party FDP, in Bonn, Germany, September 20, 2021. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

DUISBURG, Germany (Reuters) -German Social Democrat (SPD) candidate for chancellor Olaf Scholz promised on Thursday to help the steel industry convert to climate-friendly production if his party, clinging to a narrow lead in polls, wins Sunday's federal election.

Trying to shore up support in the industrial heartland of the Ruhr, Scholz campaigned at a steel plant as a poll showed support for the SPD down one point at 25%, its lead over Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives now just four points.