Crude steel output at ArcelorMittal’s European unit fell by over 2 million tonnes year-on-year during the first half of 2023 to 14.7mt, Kallanish learns from the group’s latest financial results.
The performance was impacted by the outages at blast furnaces in Gijon, Spain and in Dunkirk, France. Both units restarted in mid-July. The idling of the furnaces came amid the general weakness of the European market.
In the second quarter alone, crude steel production fell 16% y-o-y to 6.9mt.
Shipments of steel products decreased by less than production, with a fall of 1.3mt y-o-y to 15mt in H1 2023.
ArcelorMittal has significantly decreased its outlook for apparent steel consumption in Europe. It is now guiding for European demand this year to move in a range of 0.5% decline to 1.5% growth versus 2022.
The demand outlook was cut mainly due to lower-than-expected demand registered in the construction sector; ArcelorMittal still expects demand for flat products to recover this year.
Emanuele Norsa Italy
