Resumption of operation of the unit after a 30-day repair is hindered by the weakening of steel demand in Europe
Global steelmaker United States Steel Corporation (US Steel) has announced that blast furnace No. 1 at its European plant US Steel Kosice (USSK) in Slovakia will continue to be idle. This is stated in the company’s report.
“In Europe, we are seeing weaker steel demand, as a result of which USSK’s blast furnace No. 1 continues to be temporarily out of service after a scheduled 30-day maintenance. End-user activity remains tepid,” said David B. Burritt, President and CEO of US Steel.
Nevertheless, EBITDA in the European division is expected to be higher in the third quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter, mainly due to favorable changes in the CO2 market. In the second quarter, US Steel Kosice’s EBITDA fell by 78% year-on-year – to $21 million.
As reported earlier, US Steel Kosice shut down blast furnace No. 1 for maintenance in early August. In March of this year, the plant shut down blast furnace No. 2 for scheduled maintenance, which resumed operations in June.
In the second quarter of this year, US Steel Kosice reduced steel shipments by 15% y/y – to 875 thousand short tons, while steel production decreased by 19% y/y – to 980 thousand tons. In the first half of the year, USSK increased shipments by 1.6% y/y – to 1.95 million short tons.
USSK produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled and hot-dip galvanized coils. The company has three blast furnaces with a total capacity of about 4.5 million tons of pig iron per year.
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