ArcelorMittal Plans Further Production Cut, Idling Polish Blast Furnace

By Pierre Bertrand

ArcelorMittal, Europe's largest steel maker, has further cut its production in Europe after its Polish subsidiary said Thursday that it would idle one of its two blast furnaces.

At the end of the month, the company will temporarily suspend production at its number 3 furnace at its Dabrowa Gornicza plant in southern Poland. The furnace has a production capacity of 2.2 million tons of crude steel.

The decision to reduce production is the latest by the Luxembourg-based steel maker as it faces deteriorating market conditions marked by increasing prices for carbon, gas and electricity.

"The market in Europe has weakened even more during the summer period," ArcelorMittal Poland Chief Executive Frederik Van De Velde said. "We are observing a decrease in demand, which leads to an order book below the minimum working point of 2 blast furnaces."

The idling of the blast furnace in Poland adds to two other temporary blast furnace stoppages in Germany and in Spain, that ArcelorMittal said will also idle by the end of September, due to the current market. These two furnaces have a combined production capacity of 3.65 million tons of crude steel.

The company had also said it will idle a direct reduction plant in Hamburg, Germany.

ArcelorMittal said the temporary closures would affect its fourth-quarter production volumes and would last for as long as economic conditions require.

Write to Pierre Bertrand at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 08, 2022 09:43 ET (13:43 GMT)

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