ArcelorMittal Poland (AMP) has idled the wire rod mill at its Sosnowiec plant from 18-26 November due to the difficult situation in the domestic market, it says.
This follows an “in-depth analysis of all options,” the steelmaker adds. It cites Polish Steel Association figures showing apparent steel consumption in Poland is down 17% on-year.
In other news, AMP carried out the first test at ArcelorMittal Europe of transporting steel to a customer on an electric truck. The vehicle travelled from Silesia to Krakow and back, transporting a total of 200 tonnes of galv. The Volvo FH Electric truck equipped with eight batteries made ten trips in five days and covered a total distance of over 1,000km. This cut CO2 emissions from the firm’s land transport by over 1.5 tonnes.
The ArcelorMittal Group aims to reduce its CO2 emissions by 35% by 2030, with decarbonising product transport being an important component, Kallanish notes.
“We have a long way to go before a possible transition to electric transport; we must remember the challenges we face in the area of energy and infrastructure, but I believe that electricity is the future in short-distance logistics and internal transport, which allows us to make the most of the possibilities of electric vehicles,” says AMP chief executive Wojciech Koszuta.
Deliveries made solely by electric vehicles are still a long way off, with the new solution currently very expensive, while public infrastructure for passenger cars is used to charge trucks, AMP observes. However, this will become a more viable option for industry going forward.
AMP plans to convert its Dabrowa Gornicza blast furnace steelworks into an electric arc furnace operation in future. The firm saw crude steel production fall 15% on-year in 2022 to 3.4 million tonnes, thereby dropping below 2020-pandemic output of 3.9mt.
Adam Smith Poland
