NLMK Louviere declares force majeure after fire

NLMK Group confirms it has declared force majeure for its La Louviere coil rolling mill in Belgium, following a fire that occurred last Saturday.

The fire caused no injuries. The company was in the process of ramping up production after a significant investment in the hot strip mill. The unit stopped production at the beginning of February for a period of five weeks to install three new finishing lines at the site.

“Luckily, we have sustained no injuries and the new equipment has not been affected by the fire,” a spokesperson at the company tells Kallanish. The unit is expected to return to production after a week of repairs following the fire.

The stoppage at NLMK Louviere is expected to further pressure the already tight coil market in Europe, which was also impacted last week by deadly floods in Germany and other parts of northwest Europe. These forced some other mills to stop or slow down activity.

NLMK Louviere has a production capacity of some 1.7 million tonnes/year of hot rolled coil, currently being lifted by the latest investments at the site.

Emanuele Norsa Italy