ArcelorMittal Florange resumes production

ArcelorMittal resumed production at its French site in Florange last week after having mothballed the plant between 18-25 March, the CGT trade union at the plant confirms to Kallanish.

Despite resistance from the unions, production was restarted last week although the plant will not be working at full capacity due to the fall in demand. The facility was halted for a week because “… some cases of coronavirus were registered and the workers are still afraid of becoming sick,” a source says. However, sanitation and precautionary safety measures are being adopted by the company, Kallanish notes.

Last week ArcelorMittal France declared force majeure and said that it was reducing production at its flat products’ plants in France. “This decision follows the current sharp slowdown in the steel market, as well as the interruption of activity by certain customers and suppliers, despite the continuing strong demand in segments such as packaging steels (cans in particular),” ArcelorMittal said in a note (see Kallanish 24 March).