MEPS’s global steel production and capacity round-up

Europe’s renewed antidumping measures on Chinese steel, the electrification of UK steelmaking and global stainless steel production data all feature in MEPS International’s latest global production and capacity round-up.

The compiled articles, featured below, are drawn from content first published for MEPS subscribers in April's editions of the European Steel Review, International Steel Review and Stainless Steel Review publications.

Visit the MEPS website for details of how to subscribe to the monthly reports, which provide subscribers with steel prices, indices, market commentary and forecasts.

Stainless production

Global stainless steel melt shop output rose by 4.6% to 58.4 million tonnes in 2023, the latest data from worldstainless shows.

China’s steelmakers now account for nearly two-thirds of the global total, producing 36.7 million tonnes. The country was also the only region to record an increase in output, with a year-on-year rise of 12.6%.

Mills in Japan, Taiwan and India produced a combined 6.9 million tonnes, down by 7.2%. Output in Europe and the United States totalled 5.9 million and 1.8 million tonnes, respectively, representing declines of 6.2% and 9.6%.

Europe

SSAB

Swedish steelmaker SSAB has confirmed its intention to construct a new minimill in Luleå, Sweden.

The company is investing EUR4.5 billion in the project which will include two EAFs with a combined annual output of 2.5 million tonnes, along with hot and cold rolling lines.

SSAB will close the blast furnaces operating at Luleå when the new steel mill is completed in 2028.

By implementing the changes at Luleå, the company expects to realise EUR2 billion in cost savings that would otherwise be required to maintain existing plant and equipment.

SSAB is also part way through the modernisation of the cold rolling mill at its Hämeenlinna facility, in Finland. Its decision, made in 2023, to transform the steel mill in Oxelösund, Sweden, to fossil-free production, is also proceeding according to plan.

British Steel

British Steel has received planning permission to proceed with the construction of an EAF at its site in Lackenby, Teesside.

The proposal submitted by the company – part of China’s Jingye Group – included a 100 tonnes EAF, a ladle furnace and a vacuum degasser, along with two continuous casters.

Approval of British Steel's Teesside EAF plan follows an announcement, in November 2023, that the company would invest GBP1.25 billion in decarbonising its UK operations by converting to electric arc steelmaking at Lackenby and Scunthorpe.

Approval for the Scunthorpe site conversion was received from North Lincolnshire Council on April 30.

Salzgitter Flachstahl

Salzgitter Flachstahl has contracted technology group Andritz to construct a new push pickling line.

Andritz push pickling lines can process strip with thicknesses from 0.8mm to 16mm and with widths ranging from 600mm to 2,100mm. The new equipment is expected to enter service in mid-2025.

Vallourec

ArcelorMittal has agreed to acquire a 28.4% stake in French tube producer Vallourec.

Europe’s largest steelmaker will purchase the shares from Vallourec’s current owner, Apollo Global Management, in a deal worth EUR950 million. The sale is expected to be finalised later this year.

ArcelorMittal will use the acquisition to target the growing demand for hydrogen and geothermal piping products.

Trade Defence Measures

The European Commission has opted to extend antidumping measures applied to Chinese-origin imports of hot dipped galvanised coil.

Following the completion of a sunset review into the issue, tariff rates ranging from 17.2% to 27.9% will remain in place for a further five years. The Commission’s investigation concluded that injurious dumping would resume if measures were allowed to lapse.

Acerinox

Acerinox’s quarter one financial results revealed a 25% year-on-year decline in revenues for its stainless steel division.

The stainless producer delivered EUR1.1 billion in revenues during the period, achieving an EBITDA of EUR80 million. Its financial statement said that strike action at its plant in Cadiz, Spain, and the current weak market conditions were factors in its decline in performance.

During its reported period, the company produced 440,000 tonnes of stainless steel, a year-on-year reduction of nearly 15%.

Earlier this month, shareholders at US-based nickel and cobalt alloy specialist Haynes International voted to accept the USD970 million all cash acquisition offer from Acerinox. The deal has now received approval from US antitrust authorities and is likely to be completed in quarter three.

ArcelorMittal Poland

ArcelorMittal Poland is set to invest EUR9 million in upgrading the cold rolling mill at its Krakow site to produce zinc-aluminium-magnesium coated sheets.

Work on the new equipment is expected to be finalised in late 2025, with production likely to start in early 2026.

The zinc-aluminium-magnesium coating offers greater durability and corrosion resistance than zinc alone.

Asia

Yongjin Technology Group

Yongjin Technology Group is set to commission a new high-grade wide strip line at its facility in Jinjiang, Fujian province.

With the addition of the new line, which will have an annual capacity of 400,000 tonnes, the company has targeted a 2024 annual production figure of 3.2 million tonnes – up 13% on 2023.

The company is also looking to increase capacity at sites it owns in Vietnam. An 80,000 tonnes annual capacity bright annealing line and a 180,000 tonnes precision stainless strip mill are due to be completed in October 2024 and May 2025, respectively.

Valin Lianyuan Iron & Steel

Valin Lianyuan Iron & Steel has announced plans to install a new galvanising line at its facility in Hunan Province, China.

The new line will process cold rolled sheets intended for use in high-end household appliances at a rate of up to 500,000 tonnes per year. The company confirms that it will invest almost USD124 million into the project, which it expects to complete in the second half of 2025.

Angang Iron & Steel

SMS group has been contracted by Angang Iron & Steel to construct a new hot dip galvanising line at its Guangzhou Automotive Steel subsidiary.

The facility, located in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, will have an annual output of up to 400,000 tonnes of automotive-grade galvanised steel. It will produce its first “ready for sale” coil in quarter four 2025, Angang Iron & Steel said.

The new development will be the second galvanising line that SMS has installed at the Guangzhou site. The first was completed in 2013.

North America

Pacific Steel Group

Pacific Steel Group has received approval to construct a new EAF-based rebar micro mill and scrap metal recycling facility in Mojave, California.

The USD540 million facility, first proposed in 2022, will have an annual production capacity of up to 380,000 short tons of straight and spooled rebar.

Commissioning is expected in 2026, making this the first steel mill to be constructed in California in over 50 years. The plant will be powered by a 10 megawatt onsite solar array.