Steel Mills
ArcelorMittal Idles European Furnaces on Weak Demand, High Costs
Written by Becca Moczygemba
September 6, 2022
ArcelorMittal has announced the idling of furnaces across Europe, including blast furnace A at its steel works in in Asturias, Spain, multiple facilities in Germany, and the blast furnace at its mill 2 in Dunkirk, France.
According to the Luxembourg-based company, blast furnace A in Asturias will be shut down by the end of September. Blast furnace 2 at the Dunkirk facility has been idled since July. Additionally, blast furnace 3 in Dunkirk will undergo maintenance, while two galvanizing lines and a sinter line there will be shut down.
By the end of September, the steelmaker will shut down one of the blast furnaces at its Bremen, Germany, flat steel plant until further notice. Its Hamburg long steel facility will also be affected, as will facilities in Duisburg and Eisenhüttenstadt.
“The high costs of gas and electricity are a heavy burden on our competitiveness. In addition, from October there will be the gas levy planned by the federal government, which will continue to burden us,” said Reiner Blaschek, CEO of ArcelorMittal Germany.
“As an energy-intensive industry, we are extremely affected. With gas and electricity prices increasing tenfold within just a few months, we are no longer competitive in a market that is 25% supplied by imports. We see an urgent need for political action to get energy prices under control immediately,” Blaschek added.
Many European countries are seeing industry slowdowns. The problems stem largely from rising costs and decreased demand, a consequence of the war Ukraine. Companies like ArcelorMittal have had to reduce capacity in response.
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By Becca Moczygemba, Becca@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Becca Moczygemba
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