Global steel giant ArcelorMittal has announced that it will temporarily halt its blast furnace in Krakow, Poland, explaining that the decision had already been taken last May due to rising carbon emission costs, surging power prices and decreasing demand. The production halt should have taken place in September, but in July it was decided to postpone it.
ArcelorMittal Poland, according to the statement released by the company, is forced to temporarily interrupt primary operations in Krakow on November 23. The plant will resume its operations when market conditions improve, reads the statement. ArcelorMittal Poland has two other blast furnaces in Dąbrowa Górnicza, which already produce below their capacity.
In 2018, ArcelorMittal produced 5.2 million mt of crude steel in Poland, which was more than half the total production of the country. In the January-September period of this year, overall Polish crude steel output fell by 8.4 percent year on year to 6.967 million mt, according to worldsteel estimates. ArcelorMittal employs more than 11,000 people in Poland.