ArcelorMittal idles blast furnace 3 at Dąbrowa Górnicza

Europe's largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, will idle the 2.2mn t/yr blast furnace 3 at its Dąbrowa Górnicza plant in Poland at the end of September in response to falling demand and rising energy costs.

"We are observing a decrease in demand, which leads to an order book below the minimum working point of 2 blast furnaces," ArcelorMittal Poland chief executive Frederik Van De Velde said. The idling will leave the site with 2.3mn t/yr of blast furnace capacity, according to Argus estimates.

The company also indicated European steelmakers face record carbon costs following the EU's sanctions on Russian coal and reduced gas flows from Russia to Europe, leading to increased steel imports from outside of the EU, where carbon costs are lower. Argus' fob Australia assessment for premium low-volatile coking coal averaged $410.70/t in January-August of this year, compared with $153.10/t during the same period in 2021 and $130.30/t in 2020.

European steelmakers have now idled well over 16mn t/yr of crude steel capacity.

By Brendan Kjellberg-Motton