<article><p class="lead">European market leader ArcelorMittal is idling blast furnace A at its Asturias plant in Spain in response to weak demand.</p><p>The unit will be taken down at the end of September in response to economic uncertainty and weakening confidence levels among steel consumers, the company said.</p><p>It also said imports from mills outside of Europe, that are not impacted by costs linked to the EU Emissions Trading System, led to its decision.</p><p>It called again for the imposition of a carbon border adjustment mechanism as "each country ... must contribute in an equitable manner in order to make it possible to achieve the transition to a low-carbon-emissions world".</p><p>ArcelorMittal's Asturias plant has two blast furnaces and produces heavy plate, wire rod and rails. The company has also not restarted the electric arc furnace at its Sestao mill, which makes coils.</p><p class="bylines">By Colin Richardson</p></article>
