ArcelorMittal ramping up Eisenhüttenstadt BF shuttered in May

ArcelorMittal has started ramping up blast furnace 5A at its Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany, site, the steelmaker told S&P Global Commodity Insights July 7.

The blast furnace, which produces 1.8 million mt of hot metal, was shut May 20 to replace internal cooling plates, among other maintenance.

ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt makes steel mainly for the specific-application requirements in the automotive industry as well as organic coated products for use in construction.

Platts assessed hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe at Eur850/mt ex-works Ruhr on July 7, unchanged on the day, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.

HRC prices have reached floor in the EU, market sources believe. The downwards price trend in Europe since late March has came to an end due to change of approach by domestic mills that stopped giving discounts to stimulate buying and instead started to reduce production to balance supply and demand.

Steel demand from end-consumers is expected to remain below usual level, market sources believe. Steel demand from the automotive industry has been below usual as continuing component shortages has limited production.

— Annalisa Villa, Maria Tanatar