ArcelorMittal temporarily shuts down blast furnace in Poland due to import pressure

The producer claims to have lost profitability due to cheap imported steel and high energy prices and CO2 emissions

ArcelorMittal Poland, the country’s largest steel producer, has announced the temporary shutdown of blast furnace No. 3 at its plant in Dąbrowa Górnicza. The company explains its decision by a sharp deterioration in market conditions, which make the operation of the furnace economically unjustified.

ArcelorMittal Poland CEO Wojciech Kosuta said that the company is operating in conditions that consist of a number of negative factors: extremely high energy prices, lack of adequate protection of the European market, and costs associated with the purchase of CO2 emission allowances under the EU ETS.

According to the Chamber of Mining and Metallurgy, imports already cover about 80% of domestic demand for steel in Poland, and up to 95% in the flat steel segment. At the same time, ArcelorMittal notes a significant increase in supplies from Ukraine and Serbia, as well as new flows from eastern countries, including Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan.

The company has already begun preparations for a safe shutdown of the unit, which will take several weeks and, according to the preliminary plan, will begin in September. ArcelorMittal has promised to provide alternative work to all employees who operated blast furnace No. 3.

It should be noted that the last shutdown of this furnace took place in October 2022 for similar reasons, and it was restarted in January 2023. Blast furnace No. 2 will remain in operation at the plant.

According to Eurostat, the key suppliers of rolled steel to the Polish market are EU countries. In particular, in January-May 2025, 1.12 million tons of rolled steel were imported from Germany (-14.2% y/y), 272.39 thousand tons from Italy (-36.5% y/y), France – 96.19 thousand tons (-24.4% y/y). During this period, China supplied 108.78 thousand tons of products to the Polish market (+1.5% y/y), Indonesia – 20.5 thousand tons (+30.8% y/y), Saudi Arabia – 0.2 thousand tons, Serbia – 73.43 thousand tons (-5.5% y/y), Ukraine – 457.39 thousand tons (+26.7% y/y).

As a reminder, ArcelorMittal Poland recently officially commissioned hydrogen furnaces in the cold rolling annealing shop at its plant in Krakow. The PLN 52 million project will improve the quality of rolled products, reduce emissions, and speed up production.