SSAB to shut down one blast furnace at Finnish Raahe plant in November

The Swedish steel company SSAB plans to shut down one of the blast furnaces at the Finnish plant Raahe from mid-November 2022 for maintenance. Kallanish reports about it.

The decision to cut production in the fourth quarter was made against the backdrop of a slowdown in steel demand in Europe.

The blast furnace with a capacity of 1.3 million tons of pig iron per year is planned to be stopped for 6-8 weeks.

In the third quarter, steel production at SSAB enterprises in Europe amounted to 1 million tons, which is in line with the figure for the third quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2022. For 9 months of 2022, steel production at the company’s European plants decreased by 11.8% year on year.

European steelmakers have recently experienced difficult times. Since September, a number of steel companies have started to shut down their plants or reduce capacity to balance supply and demand. According to Fastmarkets estimates, 14-15 million tons of annual capacity in Europe were stopped.

Since the beginning of September 2022, the leading European steel producer ArcelorMittal stopped about 7 million tons of annual capacities of the corporation throughout Europe, including plants in Spain, Poland, France and Germany.

Very high energy tariffs, pressure from import suppliers, and lack of demand have forced US Steel Kosice, Dunaferr Liberty Ostrava, Ferroatlántica, Ferrie Nord, Askoval, Arvedi and other companies to stop or reduce production..

According to WorldSteel, steel production in the European Union in September 2022 decreased by 18.6% compared to September 2021, to 10.7 million tons. In January-September, European steelmakers produced 105.8 million tons of steel, which is 8.2% less yoy.

Read more about the impact of the energy crisis on European steel producers in the infographic of GMK Center.

  • Infrastructure

Ukrainian seaports have handled 9.3 million tons of iron ore since the beginning of the year

In January-June 2025, Ukraine's seaports handled about 40 million tons of cargo, of which more…

Thursday June 26, 2025
  • Green steel

India sets emission targets for the steel sector

India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has published draft rules on greenhouse…

Thursday June 26, 2025
  • Companies

Metinvest increased environmental spending and improved energy efficiency in 2024

In 2024, despite the difficult conditions of war, Metinvest Group increased its environmental spending and…

Thursday June 26, 2025
  • Global Market

US increased its imports of rolled steel by 10.4% m/m in May

According to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), US steel companies increased…

Thursday June 26, 2025
  • Industry

Primetals’ EAF Quantum in China sets world record

Two Quantum electric arc furnaces from Chinese steel producer Hubei Shunle, supplied by Primetals Technologies,…

Thursday June 26, 2025
  • Global Market

Spain increased steel production by 5.7% y/y in January-May

Spanish steel companies increased steel production by 5.7% in January-May 2025 compared to the same…

Thursday June 26, 2025