Money Buzz! Europa

Tag: steel industry europe

  • Liberty Steel is interested in taking over the steel activities of Thyssenkrupp

    Liberty Steel is interested in taking over the steel activities of Thyssenkrupp

    Liberty Steel Group announced that it has made a non-binding indicative offer (NBIO) as part of a Thyssenkrupp-led process to acquire the steel activities of Thyssenkrupp.

    An agreement would combine Europe’s fourth and second-largest steelmaker and mark the latest attempt at large-scale consolidation after the planned joint venture between Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel was blocked in 2019.

    Liberty Steel recently announced the acquisition of Hayange’s business in France, which produces railway rails, from British Steel.

    In July last year, Liberty Steel paid 740 million euros to take over a series of steelworks in the Czech Republic, Romania, Northern Macedonia, Italy and Belgium from the ArcelorMittal group.

    Liberty Steel is a global steel and mining business with annual revenues of about US$ 15 bn/ € 13 bn and 30.000 employees in more than 200 locations on four continents.

  • ArcelorMittal to close a big part of its Krakow unit

    ArcelorMittal to close a big part of its Krakow unit

    ArcelorMittal announced that it had decided to close its furnace and steelworks in Krakow, Poland, due to the difficult operating environment and insufficient protection from imports from outside the EU, DPA reports.

    ”The process of closing the blast furnace and steelworks will begin in October and will take several weeks until the assets are permanently shut down,” the company said, not expecting a rapid return in steel demand.

    ”The EU steel sector has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19), with all sectors using steel reducing their activity,” ArcelorMittal said, justifying the shutdown at the Krakow unit.

    The company also blamed higher energy prices in Poland and the recent EU decision ”to increase the share of duty-free steel imports from outside the EU bloc, at a time when steel demand in Europe it has dropped dramatically.”

    In an attempt to improve its competitiveness, ArcelorMittal will now focus on operations at the Dabrowa Gornicza plant, which has two blast furnaces.

    The Krakow coking plant will continue to operate.