Luxembourg-based steel giant ArcelorMittal is planning to restart the idled blast furnace at its Ghent steelworks in Belgium by mid-August, citing reduced inventories and increased demand.
The restart of the blast furnace in question means that quite a number of the workers that were laid off will be able to return to work.
However, ArcelorMittal Ghent CEO Marc Vereecke said, "This doesn't mean that we will see a return to last year's high demand. Demand will remain quite low for the rest of the year."
As SteelOrbis previously reported, one of ArcelorMittal's two furnaces in Ghent was shut down in April this year in line with the company's production cutbacks throughout Europe, as a result of the falling steel demand worldwide caused by the global economic downturn. ArcelorMittal has been operating just one furnace at its Ghent plant since then.