Plate mill Huta Czestochowa resumes output after holiday

Huta Czestochowa resumed operations this week after the year-end break, which began towards the end of December and lasted till January 7.

The company is scheduled to start operations from mid-January and plans to produce 30,000 mt this month, said Marek Frydrych, managing director of Sunningwell International Polska, the Warsaw-based financial firm holding the mill’s lease.

“We are planning to increase the production of plates to 40,000 mt in February and reach 45,000-50,000 mt in the following months,” Frydrych told S&P Global Platts Thursday.

When asked whether the mill had to suspend production due to dwindling scrap supplies, the director said the mill is reconsidering the supply channels, including supply of slabs, optimizing slab production at the EAF-based meltshop, and is seeking input material alternative to scrap.

“We go selectively with scrap suppliers – we do not accept all the scrap and at all prices, but have enough scrap to secure our orders,” said Frydrych.

Since its restart in late October and until the 2019 year-end, Huta Czestochowa made and sold 40,000 mt of plate.

— Ekaterina Bouckley