Luxembourg-headquartered global steel giant ArcelorMittal has announced that it will permanently close a number of additional assets in Liege, Belgium, threatening 1,300 jobs, due to a further weakening of the European economy and the resultant low demand for its products. European steel demand dropped by a further 8-9 percent in 2012 and decreased 29 percent below the pre-crisis levels.
ArcelorMittal stated that it will permanently close the coke plant in Liege which is no longer viable due to the excess supply of coke in Europe. The company is also planning to shut down six finishing lines, including the hot strip mill in Chertal, one of the two cold rolling flows in Tilleur, galvanizing lines No. 4 and No. 5 in Flémalle and electrogalvanizing lines HP3 and 4 in Marchin.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in October 2011 ArcelorMittal decided to permanently idle the liquid phase in Liege due to structural over-capacity in northern Europe.