NLMK suffers Covid-19 delays at Belgian service centre

NLMK confirms to Kallanish that its Belgian coil service centre located in Manage is suffering from production delays linked with the second wave of the coronavirus.

“The situation generated by Covid-19 has been deteriorating day by day in Belgium for a few weeks,” a company spokesperson says. “This causes disruption at the Manage plant, as the cut-to-length and slitting machines can no longer operate at the expected rate. This causes production delays.” The situation is only temporary, the spokesperson adds.

The facility has a slitting line capable of processing some 200,000 tonnes/year of sheet. More than half of output is dedicated to the automotive sector, with the rest going to general industry including construction and metal furniture. The Manage unit is located near the La Louviere plant and supplied mostly by it.

The delays at the NLMK service centre confirm the overall delays heard in the coil market across Europe. These are the result of a shortage of supply as well as new uncertainties created by the rapid resurgence of the virus across the continent.