Italian steelmaker Arvedi has shut down production at its
steelmaking plant in Cremona this week. While the firm refused to comment,
informed sources tell Kallanish it is
mothballing the facility because producing at the current cost of energy has
become unprofitable.
Demand
for coil remains particularly weak in Italy, with no signs of a recovery in the
short term. The further production cuts in September should also rebalance
supply with demand, while coil stocks remain medium-high throughout the country.
The
Cremona plant will remain idle for the entire week and future restart plans are
still unclear. Producers are “living by the day”, one source says.
They are hoping for government intervention this week to support the
industry.
Meanwhile,
Acciaierie d'Italia, the joint venture between ArcelorMittal and state-owned
Invitalia, is also reducing utilisation at its Taranto steelworks. The
steelmaker, formerly known as Ilva, mothballed blast furnace no.2 in August
amid the downturn in prices and demand in the global coil market. At present,
Taranto is working using two BFs.
At
the end of 2021, the steelmaker mothballed blast furnace no.4 because of a
technical issue. In October 2021, BFs no.1 and 4 were restarted. The latter was
idled for about seven months and the company spent €70 million ($69m) on
upgrade works.