ArcelorMittal Spain Implements Temporary-Layoff Program

By Pierre Bertrand

ArcelorMittal said Tuesday that it has implemented a temporary-layoff program for its workforce in Spain amid lower plant activity as the steelmaker wrestles with weak demand.

The layoff agreement, which applies to all ArcelorMittal's 8,300 workers in the country, went into effect on Oct. 1 and will last until Dec. 31, an ArcelorMittal Spain spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires.

The move comes as the Luxembourg-based steel company has idled blast furnaces in Spain, Germany and Poland due to the drop in demand for steel.

The application of the furlough scheme in Spain means that workers downstream of its idled blast furnace in Asturias, in the north of the country, will have working hours cut by 25% on average. The Aviles steel works, hot strip mill and cold rolling mills will be the most affected, the spokesman said.

Precisely how the temporary-layoff program is applied depends on market conditions and the needs of each of the company's Spanish facilities, he said.

The company will monitor whether it will have to extend the program into 2023, the spokesman added.

Write to Pierre Bertrand at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 04, 2022 11:33 ET (15:33 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.