Some EU steel mills mull output cuts

Some European steelmakers are contemplating blast furnace stoppages in response to weak demand and falling prices.

Slovak steelmaker US Steel Kosice is looking to idle blast furnace number three, according to market sources. The company's press spokesperson refused to comment on "speculation", but a number of buy and sell-side sources in Europe and the US reported the idling.

Kosice has a capacity of 3.5mn t/yr across its three blast furnaces, all of which have been operational since January — the mill had taken blast furnaces two and one off line in response to weak demand and high energy costs in the second half of last year, but restarted both in January amid rising coil prices.

Liberty Galati in Romania has taken its only blast furnace off line for technical maintenance in recent days, but will restart the unit in the next day or two.

European mills have been trying to hold their prices up despite weak demand and low import offers, but their resolve appears to be cracking. Larger southern European buyers reported offers at €700/t delivered/ex-works today, although offers from north European mills remain above €750/t for the time being, but there is little uptake at such levels.

Argus' daily Italian index dropped to €716.75/t yesterday, down from €864/t on 11 April. The daily northwest Europe HRC index has fallen to €760.75/t from €847/t over the same period. The steeper Italian decline is predominantly driven by the sharp drop in global prices, as the country is the largest importer of coil in the bloc, leaving it more exposed to overseas prices.

By Colin Richardson