ArcelorMittal Dunkirk was affected by a fire at BF №4

The ArcelorMittal Dunkirk steelworks, the French division of Europe’s leading steel producer ArcelorMittal, suffered a fire at blast furnace (BF) №4. ArgusMedia reports about it.

The fire engulfed the roof of BF №4 in the morning of March 30, 2023, but it was quickly brought under control. The unit was not significantly damaged.

The ArcelorMittal steel enterprise in Dunkirk, France, operates three blast furnaces with a total capacity of 7 million tons of pig iron per year. The capacity of the fourth blast furnace is about 3.6 million tons/year. The consequences of the accident for production have not yet been assessed.

On March 22, 2023 due to the fire ArcelorMittal stopped blast furnace A at the plant in Gijón, in the north of Spain. The incident occurred due to the destabilization of the normal shutdown of the blast furnace, which caused a fire and heavy smoke. The staff was evacuated, there were no injuries. This blast furnace was restarted in early February 2023 after being idle since September 2022.

As of March 29, 2023, the company began inspection and cleaning of damaged blast furnace. ArcelorMittal said that it has not yet been determined how long BF-A will be out of business. According to local media, the blast furnace will be shut down for at least two months. Blast furnace B at the enterprise continues to work normally.

In September 2022, ArcelorMittal announced plans to operate only one of three blast furnaces at its plant in Dunkirk (France) – BF №4, due to a significant increase in energy consumption and a drop in demand for steel. In the summer 2022, the plant stopped BFs №2 and №3, as well as the sintering line and two galvanizing lines.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2022, ArcelorMittal reduced steel production by 14.6% compared to the same period last year – to 59 million tons. Steel shipments for the year fell by 11.1% y/y – to 55.9 million tons.

Net profit for the year decreased by 37.8% compared to 2021 – to $9.302 billion. EBITDA decreased by 27% y/y – to $14.16 billion, and revenue increased by 4.3% y/y – up to $79.84 billion.

ArcelorMittal is a leading global steel and mining company with presence in 60 countries and production assets in 18 countries.