ArcelorMittal’s French sites compensate for Dunkirk production loss

The restart of blast furnace no.4 at ArcelorMittal’s Dunkirk steelworks is scheduled for the third week of June. In the meantime, the seven industrial sites of ArcelorMittal France Nord have adapted to serve their customers as well as possible, a company spokesperson tells Kallanish.

On 30 March, the spillage of approximately 150 tonnes of incandescent material triggered a fire at BF no.4. “Since the day of the incident, an important network has been set up daily with the other European sites of the group, to ensure continuity of service,” the source says.

To date, repair works on the 3 million tonnes/year BF4 are proceeding. The emptying operations are being completed as the steelmaker prepares to replace the damaged parts of the blast furnace. More than half of its electrical installations have also been replaced and reconnected. After the production restart in the week beginning 19 June, a gradual ramp-up to full capacity will follow.

Dunkirk is currently operating with a single blast furnace. Besides BF no.2, 3 and 4, the site is equipped with a coke oven, two sinter plants, three converters and ladle treatment stations, three continuous casters and a hot strip mill.

In the first quarter, ArcelorMittal’s European assets produced some 7.8mt of crude steel, up around 800,000t compared with Q4 2022 but still almost 1mt behind Q1 2022, before the Ukraine war impact. First-quarter results improved significantly compared with Q3 and Q4 2022.

A full recovery to the levels registered in the first half of 2022 is still far off, however, ArcelorMittal’s latest financial results revealed. Consolidated Q1 sales reached $18.5 billion ($1.9 billion), up almost $2 billion compared with Q4 2022 but still some $3 billion below Q1 2022 (see Kallanish 5 May).

Natalia Capra France