“In August, we have a planned shutdown of one of the blast furnaces due to maintenance work,” the spokesperson told Fastmarkets.
USSK has three blast furnaces with a combined capacity of around 4.5 million tonnes per year of pig iron. All three are operational, the spokesperson said.
The company produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled and hot-dipped galvanized coil.
BF No2 at Kosice steelworks was idled for a planned maintenance in March and resumed operations in June, Fastmarkets reported.
The spokesperson did not specify which BF will be shut down this time and for how long.
“The subsequent production configuration depends on the development of market conditions. In any case, we will meet the requirements of our customers to the maximum extent,” the spokesperson said.
European flat steel market down in 2024
Economic environment in the European flat steel market, where USSK is active, has been deteriorating in the past months, with steel prices under pressure.
In February, Fastmarkets’ steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe averaged €738.28 ($797.42) per tonne ex-works.
In March, the monthly average slipped to €691.99 per tonne ex-works, and prices continued to decline in April to an average €638.32 per tonne ex-works.
Since May, HRC prices in Europe have been largely stable, despite steelmakers’ attempts to push for higher offers.
The monthly average in July was €629.12 per tonne ex-works, and the latest calculation of Fastmarkets’ daily Northern European HRC index was €620.74 per tonne on Thursday.
Industry sources have been describing the European flat steel market as “heavily oversupplied,” and suggested that more steel output cuts might follow in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“If real steel demand doesn’t pick up [in September], we might see tumbling prices in end-2024,” a steel distributor in Norther Europe said.
“European mills have already been faced with a similar situation last year and reacted with massive steel output cuts in end-2023, maybe we will see similar scenario this year,” he added.