Luxembourg-headquartered global steel giant ArcelorMittal has stated that it will prolong the closure of its long carbon steel production plant in Madrid for an indefinite period due to continued weakness in demand and that it will move the affected employees to other plants in Spain.
More than 290 employees were affected by the announcement of a temporary closure of the Madrid plant last October, which the steelmaker said at the time was due to weakness in the Spanish construction market.
"Due to continuing weakness in the Spanish construction market and to the lack of expectations of a recovery in the short term, ArcelorMittal Spain is considering an extension, for an undefined period of time, of the closure of the electric arc furnace and sections production at its Villares plant, Madrid, specialized in large dimension beams," ArcelorMittal said in its statement on January 18.
"Other activities such as logistics services for raw materials supply for other Spanish plants and processing and distribution of steel products will continue to take place at the [Madrid] plant," the statement continued.
"We are ready to offer a job within the group in Spain to all the affected employees," said Gonzalo Urquijo, board member and president of ArcelorMittal Spain.
Since last summer, when the economic picture started to weaken, the world's largest steelmaker has announced a series of temporary plant closures in Europe.