In steel news, Belgium’s NLMK La Louvière is unlikely to resume operations at one of its two hot rolling mills before summer in Belgium. NLMK shuttered the mill after a series of fires in late 2022 knocked it out. “One of the two lines does not work at all,” a source close to the plant […]
Christopher Rivituso
Liberty Steel UK Cuts its Steel Production
Liberty Steel UK (LSUK) plans to reduce steelmaking and mothball some of its UK assets as part of restructuring plans. The group instead wants to focus on high-value, alloy-steel production in order to remain competitive. “Despite the injection of £200 million ($244 million) of shareholder capital over the last two years, the production of some […]
NLMK La Louvière, a Belgian producer of hot-rolled coils (HRC), to recommence production
In steel news, Russian-Belgian strip producer NLMK La Louvière aims to restart rolling operations. A source close to the plant told MetalMiner that the current goal for the restart is the end of January. The announcement comes just weeks after a fire knocked the facility off stream. The December 23 fire was located in the […]
European Tariffs Planned for Carbon-Intensive Steel and Aluminum
Global metal manufacturing is already set to change in 2023. Indeed, the European Council and European Parliament recently reached a provisional agreement over the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). This would impose new tariffs on materials from carbon-intensive industries imported into the 27-member bloc. According to members of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health, […]
Destroyed Ukrainian Energy Grids Impact Steel Production
Steel production in Ukraine took a hit this past week due to the ongoing conflict with Russia. Industry watchers told MetalMiner that several Ukrainian steelmakers are facing production and rolling issues. Energy suppliers are rationing power distribution to major consumers. The rationing is the direct result of missile attacks and other military actions by Russian […]
ArcelorMittal Steel Manufacturing Suffers More Shutdowns
As markets prepare for more bad steel news, ArcelorMittal plans to idle one of two blast furnaces at its Fos-sur-Mer site in southern France. The Luxembourg-headquartered group stated on November 4 that the move was a direct response to current market conditions. “In a sharply deteriorated macro-economic context, coupled with a major impact from soaring […]
Indonesia Considering Downstreaming to Retain Processed Tin Domestically
The Indonesian government has plans to shake up the tin market over the next few months. One analyst told MetalMiner that the Southeast Asian country aims to expand downstreaming opportunities for refined tin rather than continue exporting the majority of its supply. According to the analyst, the government wants to attract end-users, such as solder […]
ArcelorMittal Iron Ore Refining Hindered by War in Ukraine
Russian forces continue to wage rocket attacks on Ukraine’s cities and energy networks. So far, the destruction has caused at least one steelmaker and one iron ore producer to lower their production levels. Integrated longs producer ArcelorMittal Kriviy Rih recently announced it would limit the electricity consumption of its most energy-intensive equipment. According to an […]
Glencore Slows Energy-Intensive Zinc Smelting
Glencore plans to place the zinc smelting line at its Nordenham plant in northern Germany on care and maintenance starting November 1. This represents yet another major blow to European metal manufacturing, which continues to see shutdowns amid the continent-wide energy crisis. In an October 5 memo, the London and Johannesburg-listed company’s supervisory board chairman, […]
HRC and CRC Steel Prices Stagnate Amid Energy Crisis
Hot rolled coil steel prices in Western Europe remain largely unchanged since early September. However, as various market participants told MetalMiner, this is despite attempts by at least one steelmaker to increase them According to our sources, multiple factors continue to suppress demand for flat rolled products. These include a slowdown of public works programs […]