ArcelorMittal announces additional production cuts

ArcelorMittal, the global steel company headquartered in Luxembourg, has announced additional cuts to its global steel production. The company first announced production cuts at several locations in Europe in early May.

ArcelorMittal will reduce primary steelmaking production at its facilities in Dunkirk, France, and Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany. The company says it also will reduce primary steelmaking production at its facility in Bremen, Germany, toward the end of this year, when a planned blast furnace stoppage for repair works will be extended. ArcelorMittal also will extend a 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 ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products, says, “This is again a hard decision for us to have taken, 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.”

ArcelorMittal announced May 6 that it intended to temporarily idle production at its steelmaking facilities in Kraków, Poland, and reduce production in Asturias, Spain. The announcement also impacted the planned increase of shipments at ArcelorMittal Italia to a 6 million metric ton annual run rate; the planned increase will be slowed down following a decision to optimize cost and quality over volume in the current environment, the company says.

Paul Weigh, the London-based head of media relations for ArcelorMittal, says the announcements will amount to a 4 million metric ton to 4.5 million metric ton annualized reduction in production.