Further to the announcement made on 6 May, Arcelor Mittal confirmed at the end of last month that it would be taking additional steps to align its European production levels to current market demand.

The company says it continues to be impacted by weak market demand and high import levels in Europe.

As a result, Arcelor Mittal will: reduce primary steel-making production at its facilities in Dunkirk (France) and Eisenhüttenstadt (Germany); reduce primary steel-making production at its facility in Bremen (Germany) in the fourth quarter of this year, where a planned blast furnace stoppage for repair works will be extended; and extend the stoppage planned in the fourth quarter of this year to repair a blast furnace at its plant in Asturias, Spain.

Geert van Poelvoorde, CEO of flat products at Arcelor Mittal Europe, said: “This was a hard decision, but given the level of weakness in the market, we feel it is the prudent course of action.

“This will be a temporary measure that will be reversed when market conditions improve.

“In the meantime, our employees remain our utmost priority, and we are doing everything we can to ensure that the right social measures are in place to support them and their families during this difficult time.”

On 6 May, Arcelor Mittal (www.arcelormittal.com) announced its intention to temporarily ‘idle’ production at its steel-making facilities in Kraków (Poland) and reduce production in Asturias.

The announcement also affected the planned increase of shipments at Arcelor Mittal Italia to six million tonnes per annum; this will be slowed down, following a decision to optimise cost and quality over volume in the current market.

In 2018, Arcelor Mittal had revenues of $76.0 billion and crude steel production of 92.5 million tonnes, while its iron ore production amounted to 58.5 million tonnes.