Tata Steel is taking a blast furnace at its IJmuiden site in the Netherlands off line for "significant maintenance" during the first half of 2023, according to a customer letter.
The 2.5mn t/yr furnace number six has had a long campaign, hence the maintenance, according to a company source. The company will be stocking internal slab to smooth deliveries during the period and will also buy some from external suppliers.
Some of the slab will be sourced from mills outside the EU, meaning it "may not be possible to qualify our deliveries as EU-origin". The slab will be procured and processed in June 2022-September 2023, the letter said. IJmuiden has already started trialling some material to ensure it meets its requirements.
Given the maintenance, it is important that the company has a "clear view" on customer requirements so it can ensure it has sufficient slab. As a result, the company has asked buyers to "highlight any expected substantial deviations from your regular order book during the first half of 2023".
Tata Steel has two blast furnaces in Ijmuiden capable of producing 6mn t/yr of pig iron, which feed up to 7.5 mn t/yr of hot-rolled coil output.
