Huta Częstochowa launches plate mill

On February 3, 2025, the Polish steel plant Huta Częstochowa reached a key milestone in its resumption of operations – it launched production in the plate mill (Walcownia Blach Grubych). This was the last step towards the company reaching full capacity after more than a year of downtime, wyborcza.pl reports, citing data from the company’s tenant, Węglokoks.

At 7:00 a.m., the plant started rolling the first batch of S235 steel plates intended for the Polish construction industry. At the time of launch, the plant had an order backlog of 13 thousand tons, and management expects further growth in demand. The plate mill is capable of producing over 40 thousand tons of products per month in the thickness range from 6 to 150 mm.

The shop resumed operations on 20 January this year following the launch of steelmaking operations. Successful test melts confirmed the high quality of the steel, which allows the company to meet its own raw material needs and strengthen production stability.

The launch of the plate mill is part of the Huta Częstochowa recovery process that has been underway since the plant was leased to Węglokoks in November 2024. After a series of technical works and test runs, the plant has returned to full operations.

However, the future of the plant depends on an asset auction scheduled for February 17, 2025. At the same time, the city authorities and Polish government officials are seeking to include the plant in the list of strategic enterprises, which will protect it from unwanted takeovers.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the liquidator of Huta Częstochowa presented the court with the valuation and auction rules, setting the starting price of the company at PLN 227 million ($54.9 million).

The plant is currently leased by the state-owned Węglokoks holding, which is actively working to restore its operations. In December 2024, the key equipment of the steel shop and the heavy plate mill was cold-started. On January 10, 2025, after more than a year’s break, the plant carried out its first test steelmaking. The plant plans to produce 20 thousand tons of steel in February.