Global steel production and capacity round-up, Dec 2023

The key developments affecting steelmaking production and capacity across the globe during December have been compiled by steel insight provider MEPS International.

Read on for a summary of articles that first appeared in the MEPS European Steel Review, International Steel Review and Stainless Steel Review in the last month of 2023.

Europe

Acciai Speciali Terni

Italian stainless steel coil producer Acciai Speciali Terni plans to take an extended production break over the Christmas holiday season, citing poor demand and high energy costs. The site’s hot end will be shut down on December 19, 2023, and will remain idled until January 7, 2024.

The company has also invested in a new digital quality management system at the Terni site. The system will monitor all aspects of the site's steelmaking and rolling equipment, allowing for improved production management, quality control and production issue detection

US-EU trade talks

The United States Government and European Commission have agreed to suspend steel import tariffs for 15 months after failing to deliver a carbon-based trade agreement.

Officials had set a December 31 deadline for talks after negotiations were not resolved, as anticipated, in October. An existing truce over the imposition of US Section 232 tariffs, and retaliatory EU measures, will now last until March 31, 2025.

A statement issued by the European Commission said: “The EU prolongs the suspension of rebalancing tariffs in return for the US extending the suspension of its tariffs for historical trade volumes that are reflected in the Tariff-Rate Quota (TRQ) system established in January 2022.

"In addition, the US agreed to provide for further exclusions from the tariffs for EU exporters."

Celsa

The creditors of Spanish steelmaker Celsa Group have completed the takeover of the business after the previous owners were unable to agree a debt restructuring deal.

This follows a ruling issued by a Barcelona commercial court in September approving the plan. The judgment included a commitment for the new owners to sell a 20% stake in the business to a separate Spanish industrial party within six months.

The creditors, which include global investment fund Strategic Value Partners and Deutsche Bank AG, have said that they "remain committed to maintaining the company’s operations in Spain."

Thyssenkrupp

Local reports suggest that thyssenkrupp plans to shutter its Galmed plant in Sagunto, located in the Spanish province of Valencia.

The company considers the plant to be unprofitable amid a period of poor demand from the European automotive sector. It has been operating at significantly under its stated annual production capacity of 450,000 tonnes of galvanised coil for some time.

The closure is expected to be completed within 12 months. The site was previously closed in 2013, before reopening in 2016.

ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal Asturias has contracted Spanish equipment manufacturer Saralle to construct the new EAF at its Gijón plant.

The furnace, due to be operational toward the end of 2025, has a proposed annual output of 1.1 million tonnes of low-emission long product steel.

The project forms part of ArcelorMittal's plan to reduce CO2 emissions at its European operations by 35% before 2030.

Ovako

Ovako has completed the revamp of the rolling mill at its facility in Hällefors, Sweden.

The project involved the partial replacement of the existing roughing train and other mechanical and electrical equipment.

The Hällefors plant has an annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes of straight and coiled bars. It supplies the automotive, mining, and energy sectors, as well as other manufacturing industries.

Voestalpine

Austrian steelmaker voestalpine is set to modernise one of the slab casters operating at its Linz plant.

A new hydraulic oscillator will be installed on the unit, improving the surface quality of the material it produces. The upgrades will be completed in quarter four 2024.

Asia

Indonesia

Officials in Indonesia have filed a trade dispute case with the World Trade Organization regarding the European Union’s imposition of import duties on Indonesian-origin cold rolled stainless steel.

The start of the formal dispute follows similar complaints raised by Indonesia earlier in the year.

Definitive antidumping duties, ranging from 10.2% to 20.2%, have been in place since 2021.

Hongwang Group

Hongwang Group plans to create a new stainless steel production facility in Qianqiao, Jiangsu province.

The site will have capacity to produce 300,000 tonnes of 200, 300 and 400 series products per year. The company currently has an annual finished stainless steel output of close to four million tonnes.

Baowu Group

Baowu Group has received approval from Chinese competition authorities to move ahead with its planned takeover of Shandong Iron and Steel.

The regulator stated that the merger of the two companies would not violate antitrust laws.

Baowu Group is the world’s largest steelmaker. Data released by worldsteel indicates that it produced 132 million tonnes of steel in 2022, while Shandong Iron and Steel produced 29m tonnes.

HBIS Group

A new hot rolling mill at HBIS Group’s facility in Laoting, Hebei province, has produced its first coils.

The equipment is capable of processing coils with widths of up to 1,580 millimetres. This is the first phase of a project targeting the replacement of outdated production capacity at the site.

The company plans to add cold rolling and galvanising lines later.

Jiugang Hongxing

Jiugang Hongxing has begun the construction of a new heavy plate facility at a site in Gansu province.

The project, which targets an annual output of up to 2.3 million tonnes, includes the installation of two new BOFs, two casters and rolling equipment. The site’s overall production capacity will be reduced as outdated equipment is removed, however.

Commissioning is expected in mid-2025. A second phase of construction, involving a high-speed bar production line, is also planned.

Daido Steel

Japan’s Daido Steel has installed a new vacuum arc remelting furnace at its Shibukawa Plant in Gunma prefecture.

The total value of the investment is JPY750 million (USD5 million). In March the company announced that it planned to open a similar furnace at its Chita plant in early 2025.

North America

Gerdau

Gerdau Long Steel North America has completed the installation of a new EAF at its Whitby steel mill in Ontario, Canada.

The new scrap-based furnace has a tap weight of 137 short tons. A new material handling system and fume treatment equipment were also installed.

Following its upgrades, the site’s annual production capacity has risen to 1.2 million short tons – an increase of 71%.

The company has also commissioned a heat treatment facility at its Midlothian EAF steel mill in Texas. The new equipment can process bars with lengths of up to 20 metres.

Canada

Authorities in Canada have started an expiry review on trade defence measures applied to cold rolled coil sourced from China, South Korea, and Vietnam.

Chinese material currently attracts an antidumping duty of 91.9% and a countervailing duty of 11.6%. Coil from South Korea has an antidumping duty of 53% and a countervailing duty is 11.3%. Vietnam's antidumping duty rate is 99.2%, with a countervailing duty of 6.5%.