ArcelorMittal To Shut Down Steel Plants in Italy

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal announced its decision to implement temporary halt in production at its facilities in Italy. The company has decided to shut down several facilities in the country, on account of devastating coronavirus outbreak in the country which has already taken thousands of lives.

According to the company, shutdowns are already in progress in a few facilities and that it will be fully implemented by next week. The cut in production at Taranto facility will lead to reduction in workforce by almost 50%. The planned shutdowns will impact No.2 blast furnace, No.1 steelmaking shop, No.1 hot strip mill and the cold-rolling mill, said the company press release.

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Last week, the company had declared its intention to reduce plant activities by 25%. Meantime, the unions had demanded production halt across all facilities until March 25^th for the purpose of sanitizing the plant and its surroundings. Meantime, it is quite unclear at this point of time, as to how long the shutdowns are likely to last, as the virus continues to spread across Europe.

Also, ArcelorMittal has decided to postpone the restart of blast furnace operations at its Krakow, Poland steel plant.