ArcelorMittal Dunkirk will operate on one blast furnace

ArcelorMittal Dunkirk, the French division of Europe’s leading steelmaker ArcelorMittal, will temporarily operate one of its three blast furnaces (BFs) following a fire at BF №4. Kallanish reports about it with the reference to company data.

It is noted that BF №4 was not damaged as a result of the fire, the workers were evacuated, and there were no casualties. But during the investigation of the origin of the explosion, the plant will operate with only one blast furnace.

Blast furnace №4 is the most powerful at the Dunkirk plant. This incident adds to the shortage in the hot-rolled steel market in the European Union, which is likely to affect prices and order fulfillment times.

“Experts are investigating the object to understand the exact origin and cause of the fire. This will take several days with the support of third-party experts. It is necessary to wait for the results of the examination in order to make a decision on the resumption of the work of the state-owned enterprise. The plant is adapting the work of its divisions to current production volumes to minimize the impact on customers,” said a representative of ArcelorMittal Dunkirk.

The ArcelorMittal plant in Dunkirk is equipped with three blast furnaces, a coke oven, two sinter plants, three converters, three CCM and a hot rolling mill.

On March 22, 2023, due to the fire at the ArcelorMittal plant in Gijón in the north of Spain, blast furnace A was stopped at the enterprise. 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 service. According to local media, the blast furnace will be shut down for at least two months.

In September 2022, ArcelorMittal announced plans to operate at the ArcelorMittal Dunkirk plant only one of the three blast furnaces – BF №4, due to a significant increase in energy consumption and a drop in demand for steel. In the summer 2022, the plant stopped BF №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 of the company 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.