ArcelorMittal confirms Fos-sur-Mer blast furnace restart

ArcelorMittal is relaunching production at blast furnace no.1 in Fos-sur-Mer, southern France, Kallanish notes.

Rumours about the restart of the furnace have circulated since the company confirmed last month the restart of another BF in the north of the country, in Dunkirk.

BF1 in Fos-sur-Mer was stopped at the end of March, in response to the reduction in demand caused by the coronavirus spread in Europe. The furnace is expected to be restarted from mid-September and become fully operational in the following weeks.

Earlier this week the company also confirmed the restart of a BF in northern Spain. Most of the capacity brought back online will offset the production loss from the relining of a furnace in Ghent, Belgium.