ArcelorMittal’s crude steel production in the second quarter declined 2% year over year to 14.4 million mt from 14.7 million mt due to lower output from its Brazilian and European operations, the Luxembourg-based steelmaker said July 31.
The company’s Q2 output from Europe fell 6.4% to 7.53 million mt while that from Brazil dipped to 3.54 million mt from 3.58 million mt.
The lower European production was “primarily due to the planned reline of Dunkirk BF4 [blast furnace No 4], which restarted mid-July 2025,” ArcelorMittal said. The Dunkirk BF has a capacity of 3 million mt/year.
ArcelorMittal’s North American operations produced 2.03 million mt of crude steel in Q2, up 11.6% from 1.82 million mt the previous year.
When summed up, crude steel production in H1 was at 29.2 million mt, slightly up 0.3% from 29.1 million mt in H1 2024.
“Sales for 1H 2025 decreased by 5.6% to $30.7 billion as compared with $32.5 billion for 1H 2024, primarily due to 7.5% lower average steel selling prices,” ArcelorMittal said.
“Due to ongoing tariff headwinds, economic activity remains subdued; no restocking has been observed as customers maintain a ‘wait and see’ approach.”
Due to the US tariffs, “flat product apparent steel consumption (ASC) is now forecast to decline slightly in 2025 within the range of -2.0% to 0% (as compared to growth of 1.0% to 3.0% forecast at the beginning of the year). Section 232 tariffs have also increased costs and negatively impacted the supply/demand balance in Canada and Mexico markets.”
Although the EU and the US reached an agreement July 27 for a single tariff of 15% on a vast majority of EU exports into the US, steel and aluminum duties remain at 50%.
