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Several European steel mills have decided to cut production, shutting down blast furnaces during the summer period, in the face of still weak steel demand.

Automobile manufacturers have consumed less steel due to lower car production rates caused by component shortages. Other end users, including the home appliance segment, also experienced lower demand for steel.

Most European coil manufacturers have been operating at reduced capacity in recent weeks and have scheduled longer summer maintenance work in an effort to balance supply with reduced demand.

European distributors have sufficient stocks and, as a result, have avoided restocking. The negative price trend in the EU flat steel market has contributed to a wait-and-see approach among buyers.

Germany

1- ArcelorMittal’s Eisenhuettenstadt plant

  • Operating at reduced capacity since August 1 due to weak demand;
  • ArcelorMittal requested reduced hours for the months of August and September to reduce production due to the tense economic situation caused by weak demand;
  • ArcelorMittal experienced a sharp drop in demand for rolled products;
  • The plant’s liquid lines continue to operate normally due to normal demand for slabs;
  • The Eisenhuettenstadt plant produced 1.6 million tons of flat steel in 2021;
  • ArcelorMittal previously shut down blast furnace 5A at Eisenhuettenstadt on May 20 to replace internal cooling plates, in addition to other maintenance work, but began restarting it on July 7

2- Salzgitter Blast Furnace C

  • The restart of Blast Furnace C, which has been idle since 2019, has been delayed due to reduced demand and sufficient supply of semi-finished products from other sites;
  • Blast Furnace C has a capacity of 600,000 tons per year. Salzgitter’s total crude steel production exceeds 7 million tons per year.

Italy

3 – Arvedi

  • Shut down production at its plant, including the steel mill and rolling mills, for five weeks in August for summer maintenance work;
  • Operates two electric furnaces in Cremona that supply 75% of finishing operations;
  • EAF No. 1 has a capacity of 1.4 million tons of crude steel per year and EAF No. 2 has an expanded capacity of 2.6 million tons per year.

4 – Acciaierie d’Italia

  • Since July 11, it has temporarily halted production of the 2-million-ton-per-year blast furnace No. 2 for about a month and a half, according to union sources;
  • They would also temporarily shut down a second blast furnace in early August;
  • Market participants pointed to high production costs (particularly for energy), limited demand, and failed attempts to raise coil prices to the desired level as the likely reasons for the move.

5 – Marcegaglia

  • According to market sources, Marcegaglia has shut down all production for four to five weeks as opposed to the normal two to three weeks to realign availability to currently minimal demand;
  • The company’s steel production volume for 2022 is likely to be in line with the general decline in demand, with volumes down 3%-5% from the previous year.

France

 

6 – ArcelorMittal’s Dunkirk Steelworks

  • A 1.5-million-ton capacity blast furnace was shut down on July 12, following a reduction in operations;
  • The closure of the furnace is due to market weakness;
  • The shutdown will leave a hot metal capacity of 5.7 million tons per year in operation;
  • The expected date for the restart of the furnace has not yet been announced.

7 – NLMK Strasbourg

  • Galvanizing line closed since early July for relining;
  • NLMK’s Strasbourg site has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year of HDG.

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Czech Republic

8 – Liberty Plant in Ostrava

  • Temporarily shut down blast furnace No. 2 to carry out a €9.5 million ($9.7 million) repair and upgrade program;
  • The maintenance aims to increase furnace stability and reliability and reduce inventories;
  • The maintenance work includes extensive repairs to the coolers and steel structures, as well as an upgrade of the furnace top, including the detection system;
  • Blast Furnace No. 3 and the plant’s rolling mills continue to produce to serve customers;
  • Previously, in April 2020, BF2 was shut down for four months due to COVID-19, reducing production by 20 percent, meaning the current shutdown could continue for at least the same period of time, if not longer.

Serbia

9 – HBIS Serbia

  • Shut down one of its two blast furnaces in late July due to unfavorable conditions and reduced demand in the global steel market;
  • Blast Furnace No. 1 has a maximum capacity of 900,000 tons per year;
  • The furnace was previously restarted in August 2021 after HBIS Serbia shut it down in July 2020 due to unfavorable market conditions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Slovakia

10 – US Steel Kosice

  • Market sources said one of the three blast furnaces was shut down in an attempt to balance supply with low demand and prevent prices from falling further. The company denied this on June 27.

Ukraine

11 – Metinvest

  • Operations at the Ingulets and Southern iron ore mining and processing plants have been suspended as of July 1;
  • Operations at Northern GOK will be suspended from mid-July;
  • The closures are due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine;
  • The company will switch to using only one blast furnace at the Kamet Steel plant in Kamianske;
  • Central GOK will continue to operate at reduced levels of capacity utilization. Central GOK has an iron ore processing capacity of more than 6 million tons per year, with 2 million tons per year of pellet production capacity, while the group’s iron ore concentrate production reached 30.5 million tons in 2021.