MEPS’s global steel production and capacity round-up

Upgrades to ArcelorMittal sites across Europe, Chinese producers’ new stainless steel facilities and tighter trade defences for Canada, South Korea and Taiwan feature in MEPS’s December steelmaking capacity round-up.

This year’s final monthly summary of steel industry developments from around the world features articles previously featured in MEPS’s European Steel Review, International Steel Review and Stainless Steel Review publications.

These monthly publications provide steel prices, market commentaries and 12-month steel price forecasts from key global markets. Contact MEPS for details of how to subscribe.

Europe

Thyssenkrupp Steel

Thyssenkrupp Steel has agreed a collective restructuring package covering its operations in Duisburg, Germany, with the IG Metall trade union, enabling implementation to begin immediately.

The plan includes cutting or outsourcing around 11,000 jobs – around 40% of the site’s workforce – while reducing crude steel shipment capacity from 11.5 million tonnes to 9m tonnes per year. Funds have been secured to cover the duration of the restructuring programme, which is scheduled to run until 30 September 2030.

Thyssenkrupp has also confirmed that the DRI plant under development in Duisburg will continue unaffected. This decision was made amid ongoing talks with Jindal Group regarding the Indian steelmaker’s potential acquisition of thyssenkrupp Steel.

ArcelorMittal developments

Germany

ArcelorMittal has commissioned a series of upgrades to its reversing cold mill at Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany.

The modernisation, completed in December 2025, improves the plant’s capability to produce higher-quality silicon steel by improving strip cleanliness, surface finish and process control. Furthermore, emissions are being reduced through an enhanced extraction and filtration system.

ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt is an integrated site with an annual production capacity of up to 2.4 million tonnes.

France

The first three lines of a new EUR500 million electrical steel production unit are due to be commissioned at ArcelorMittal’s Mardyck site, near Dunkirk, by the year end.

The initial phase of the steelmaker’s project at Mardyck includes preparation, heat-treatment and coating and slitting units. It will increase the site’s annual production capacity for electrical steels to 155,000 tonnes.

A second phase of construction is now underway, including additional heat-treatment and rolling capability, with a total of five new lines to be added by 2027.

Spain

ArcelorMittal is temporarily halting the coating line at its Avilés facility to carry out upgrades, including replacement of hydrochloric acid tanks used in strip treatment.

Work on the project is expected to be completed on December 26, 2025.

Meanwhile, the restart of blast furnace B at the nearby Gijón integrated plant remains problematic following maintenance.

Repeated attempts have been made to reignite the furnace. If successful, the first pig iron could be produced by late December, with operations stabilised by late January to early February 2026.

Asia

Guangdong Baojia Technology

Guangdong Baojia Technology will proceed with the commissioning of its new stainless steel processing facility in Jieyang after its environmental impact assessment received final approval from local authorities.

The 61-hectare site will have capacity to produce up to 600,000 tonnes of 200-, 300- and 400-series stainless steel coils annually, alongside 400,000 tonnes per year of stainless steel slitting capacity.

The plant will include a multi-stand continuous cold rolling mill, two reversible cold rolling mills, a hot rolled coil annealing and pickling line and eight slitting lines. Construction, which began in 2023, is expected to be completed by the year end.

Zhaoqing Hongwang Metal Industry

Zhaoqing Hongwang Metal Industry has revealed plans to expand its stainless cold rolling capacity at its facility in Guangdong province.

The company, a subsidiary of Hongwang Group, will upgrade an existing line, raising output to 197,000 tonnes per year. The project also adds a new bright annealing line rated at 125,000 tonnes per year.

The USD7 million investment is expected to enter service late in quarter one 2026.

Trade Defence – South Korea

South Korea’s Trade Commission has opened an antidumping investigation into Chinese-origin coated steel products, following a joint petition from Dongkuk CM, KG Steel and SeAH CM.

The investigation focuses on hot dipped galvanised steel coil and sheet products including corrugated and organic coated products below 4.75mm thick and covers assessment period of January 1, 2021, to June 30, 2025.

The joint petition cited an alleged dumping margin of 33.67% and names seven Chinese producers. They were: Angang, Baogang, Baowu, Bengang, Handan Steel, Maanshan Steel and Wuhan Steel.

In a separate trade case, South Korea’s Trade Commission has launched a sunset review of existing antidumping duties on Chinese steel beams. Current duties range from 28.23% to 32.72%.

Trade Defence – Taiwan

Taiwan’s Ministry of Finance has confirmed the imposition of five-year antidumping duties on certain hot rolled coil and plate products from China.

The measures replace provisional tariffs that were imposed in late June, following an investigation launched in March. The new duties are set at 16.1% for Baoshan Iron & Steel, Baosteel Zhanjiang and Shanghai Meishan Steel. Other exporters, which did not submit evidence to the investigation panel, will be subject to a rate of 20.15%.

North America

Trade Defence – Canada

Canada’s Prime Minister’s Office says it will tighten protection for the domestic steel industry by reducing tariff-rate quotas from December 26, 2025.

For non-FTA countries, the duty-free quota will be reduced from 50% to 20% of 2024 import levels. For FTA partners, the duty-free quota will decline from 100% to 75% of 2024 levels. Both non-FTA countries and FTA partners remain subject to a 50% above-quota tariff.

Material from the US and Mexico will remain exempt under the USMCA agreement. The government will also enact a “Buy Canadian” policy. This requires the use of Canadian-produced steel in large federal construction and defence contracts valued at CAD25 million or more, where at least USD250,000 worth of these materials are required and a Canadian source of supply is available.