More European steel mills plan to reduce steel production in December
Given the continuously declining steel prices and sluggish terminal demand in Europe, several large steel mills including ArcelorMittal’s production bases in multiple countries, Salzgitter, pittini, Liberty, and Acciaierie d’Italia have gradually reduced production in the past two months and will continue until December. As the instability of market supply and demand becomes increasingly prominent, three other large steel mills have also announced plans to halt or reduce production in December this week.
Arvedi, an Italian steel plant, plans to extend its shutdown period and begin at least 14 days of maintenance on December 19th. SSAB, located in Raahe, the Netherlands, plans to begin a 6-8 week overhaul of a 1.25 million ton annual capacity blast furnace next month. The factory’s production this year has been significantly lower than the same period last year. Thyssenkrup, located in Bochum, Germany, plans to suspend its hot rolling equipment operation from December. The equipment has an annual production capacity of 4.4 million tons and is temporarily suspended for one month.
Eurofe, the European Iron and Steel Association, recently predicted in its report that the crude steel output of EU member states in 2022 will decline by 3.5% year-on-year to 145 million tons, a larger decline than previously expected. The direct reason is the unexpected economic recession, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the serious energy crisis caused by it. In September, production in Europe (including the UK) decreased by 17.2% year-on-year to 14.2 million tons, a month on month increase of 7.6%. The total production for the nine months was 140.4 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 8.5%.
