Arcelor Mittal Selling German Plant

Arcelor Mittal has agreed to the sale of its Stahlwerk Thüringen GmbH operation to Grupo Alfonso Gallardo for 591 million euros (US$781 million). The sale is part of Mittal Steel’s commitment to the European Commission to divest some operations as a way to receive approval of the merger between Arcelor S.A and Mittal Steel N.V.

SWT, a 100 percent subsidiary of Arcelor Mittal, is in Unterwellenborn, Thüringen, Germany.

The facility uses steel scrap for its raw material, and combine an electric arc furnace, a ladle furnace, a four-strand continuous caster and a section rolling mill. SWT’s annual production capacity is about 1 million tons.

Following Mittal Steel’s bid for Arcelor the European Commission identified competition concerns in relation to heavy sections. In response, the company committed to dispose of three European medium/heavy section mills: Arcelor’s Stahlwerk Thüringen and Travi e Profilati di Pallanzeno (Italy), and Mittal Steel’s section and bar mill Huta Bankowa (Poland). The divestment process for the two latter assets is well engaged.

The deal is expected to be complete by early next year.