The process started gradually on April 25, with the suspension of the coke battery firing, and ended on the next day, when the plant’s coke ovens were discharged.
“The company has taken all the necessary measures and operations to ensure that the above-mentioned process went safely and with minimum impact on the environment,” the spokesperson said.
The closure of the coke plant was announced at the end of March, with ArcelorMittal Zenica citing rising production costs — particularly of electricity, natural gas and logistics — and reduced demand for finished steel. According to the company, sales in 2023 were historically low.
ArcelorMittal Zenica will continue to produce long steel via blast furnace (BF), purchasing coke from external sources, according to the spokesperson.
“After stopping the coke battery, total emissions of the Zenica plant will go down to the lowest level since the beginning of operation of the steelmaking factory in Zenica, which started 132 years ago,” the spokesperson said.
ArcelorMittal Zenica has a BF with a capacity for 1.10 million tonnes per year and a basic oxygen furnace with a capacity for 1.14 million tpy. According to Fastmarkets’ information, the plant outputs around 800,000 tpy of steel rebar and wire rod, which places it among the largest producers of long-steel products in the Balkans.
ArcelorMittal Zenica operates in long-steel markets, which have been weak across Europe due to slow demand from the construction sector, which is a key end user.
For instance, Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality) domestic, delivered Southern Europe averaged €645.63 ($694) per tonne in March, down from an average of €693.00 per tonne in March 2023.
Long-steel producers across Europe have been pushing for higher prices in the past two weeks, Fastmarkets reported.
But buyer sources told Fastmarkets that a strong rebound in prices was unlikely due to ongoing sluggish demand from the construction sector.
According to ArcelorMittal, the coke plant in Zenica produced an average of around 350,000 tpy of coke.
ArcelorMittal Zenica emphasized that it was working on a reassignment plan for about 200 people who were employed in the coke plant.
“Most of these employees will be reassigned to other production facilities, and the possibility of offering 10-15% of employees a transfer to other ArcelorMittal units in Europe is being checked,” the spokesperson said.
Published by: Darina Kahramanova
