06 Mar ArcelorMittal España’s Sestao EAF to remain idle until at least Q2

ArcelorMittal España has pushed back the restart of its Sestao electric arc furnace (EAF) in Bilbao, Spain, for a third time, the company told Metal Bulletin on Monday March 5.

The EAF will remain offline until at least the second quarter of this year, the company confirmed. It did not give further details relating to the third extension of the furnace’s idle period.

The Luxembourg-based steelmaker originally took the EAF offline in November 2011 due to poor steel demand in Spain, saying that it intended to restart the furnace in early January 2012.

In December 2011, however, the shutdown was extended until later in January and then extended again, when the company stated that the EAF would remain offline until the end of February.

Sestao produces hot and cold rolled coil and cold rolled sheet. It is one of two ArcelorMittal EAFs in Spain that have been idled due to reduced market activity. The steelmaker mothballed its Madrid EAF in October 2011 and did not specify when the plant would restart.

ArcelorMittal has extended the idle period of two of its three blast furnaces at the company’s Florange site in eastern France, prompting protests involving 200 workers at the steelworks.

The initial idling at Florange, in July 2011, led to temporary layoffs of 2,600 of 5,000 employees at the site.

Font: Alexandra Chapman. Metal Bulletin