Sidenor halts rolling mill in Askia due to low demand

Spanish special steel manufacturer Sidenor is shutting down the rolling mill at its plant in the municipality of Askoitia, according to EITB.

Production will be consolidated at the plant in Reinosa (Cantabria province), where the two rolling mills will be merged into one, as the existing workload is insufficient for both to continue operating. This was announced last week to the works council and trade unions at the Azkoitia plant.

The company cites the reduction in its order book, which has been ongoing for several years and has now become structural, as the reason for this move.

In October 2022, Sidenor was faced with the need to shut down the rolling mill in Reinoso and concentrate production in Azkoitia, initially for six months and then for an indefinite period. A year later, in October 2023, production in Reinosa was resumed due to improved market expectations for 2024.

However, the company notes that these forecasts did not materialize, forcing it to implement a temporary layoff plan (ERTE) at both plants from April 2024 to October 2025. Since then, attempts have been made to alleviate the situation through internal flexibility measures.

According to EUROFER’s expectations, apparent steel consumption in the EU will decline slightly (-0.2%) in 2025, marking the fourth consecutive annual recession, and will begin to recover in 2026, increasing by 3%. However, it was noted that this would happen provided that industrial conditions improve and global tensions ease, but these factors remain difficult to predict. This was discussed in the latest report by the European Steel Association in December 2025.