Final Thoughts
US Steel Košice Idles Second Blast Furnace
Written by Laura Miller
December 6, 2022
US Steel has idled a second blast furnace at its Košice steelworks in Slovakia.
The No. 1 BF at Košice has been temporarily idled as of Dec. 2 “as a result of very high energy prices, low market demand and surging imports,” a US Steel spokeswoman confirmed to SMU in an email Tuesday, Dec. 6.
In September, the company pulled forward a 60-day planned outage on the No. 2 Košice BF. That furnace has remained down, awaiting an improvement in customer activity.
“We expect to resume two BF operations at the beginning of 2023,” the spokeswoman added.
A third BF at the carbon flat-rolled, electrical steel, and spiral-weld pipe mill remains in operation.
In its third quarter earnings conference call in late October, executives of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker commented on the challenging environment it has been facing in Europe. President and CEO David Burritt said on the call the company would continue to adjust to manage the headwinds of high raw material and energy costs, buyer destocking, and the continuing war in neighboring Ukraine.
By Laura Miller, Laura@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Laura Miller
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