Warsaw - ArcelorMittal , the world’s top steelmaker, is considering temporarily closing a blast furnace at its plant in Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland, due to weaker steel demand in Europe, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Since early September, the Luxembourg-based group has made several major cutbacks to its European steel operations, including the permanent closure of two furnaces at its Liege plant and the idling of production in Germany and Spain due to weaker steel demand and a worsening economic outlook.
“There is no decision yet as to furnace No.3 in Dabrowa Gornicza, but we do not exclude such a scenario (temporarily taking it off-stream) because of the market situation,” said Sylwia Winiarek.
In 2010, ArcelorMittal produced 92 629,000 tonnes of steel, 37% of it in western Europe and 11% in Central and Eastern Europe.
High volumes of steel came out of Europe in the first half of the year, but weaker demand, low prices and destocking have hit sales, leading ArcelorMittal and other European steel producers to cut capacity.
Since early September, the Luxembourg-based group has made several major cutbacks to its European steel operations, including the permanent closure of two furnaces at its Liege plant and the idling of production in Germany and Spain due to weaker steel demand and a worsening economic outlook.
“There is no decision yet as to furnace No.3 in Dabrowa Gornicza, but we do not exclude such a scenario (temporarily taking it off-stream) because of the market situation,” said Sylwia Winiarek.
In 2010, ArcelorMittal produced 92 629,000 tonnes of steel, 37% of it in western Europe and 11% in Central and Eastern Europe.
High volumes of steel came out of Europe in the first half of the year, but weaker demand, low prices and destocking have hit sales, leading ArcelorMittal and other European steel producers to cut capacity.