The 1.7 million-tonne-per-year BF No2 at Kosice steelworks was idled for a planned maintenance in early March, but the company decided to extend the downtime into the second quarter amid persistently weak demand for steel and deteriorating prices, Fastmarkets reported.
BF No2 was reignited in June.
USSK has three blast furnaces with a combined capacity of around 4.5 million tpy of pig iron; all three of them are operational, the spokesperson told Fastmarkets.
“I can confirm that all three BFs are running. Our production capacity is 4.5 million tonnes of steel products per year when running our three furnaces,” the spokesperson said.
USSK produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled and hot-dipped galvanized coil.
News about the BF restart flustered flat steel buyers across Europe because demand for coil has been subdued and producers have been “chasing orders,” sources said.
“We’ve been talking for months that [steel] output cuts are needed to balance the market, not the opposite,” a buyer in Europe said.
USSK did not comment on the current market situation.
“We do not provide any expectations regarding demand, and we manage our furnaces in line with our planned maintenance schedules and customer demand. We are confident that all our customers will receive what they have ordered, and we will continue to manage our furnace(s) according to our operating customer and maintenance needs,” the spokesperson said.
In late May-early June, producers in Europe were expected to begin seeking higher prices, following news about a review of steel import safeguards in the EU and its consequences for the market. But the bullish momentum has stalled, lacking support from real steel demand, Fastmarkets reported.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €630.88 ($676.97) per tonne on Wednesday, down by €1.62 per tonne from €632.50 per tonne on Tuesday June 18.
The index was down by €4.33 per tonne week on week and by €7.45 per tonne month on month.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
