Arcelor's ACB plant is planned to close

Arcelor’s ACB plant is planned to close

The European steelmaker Arcelor has announced that it will close its Aceria Compacta de Bizkaia (ACB) mill in Sestao, Spain temporarily. The closure will be implemented due to a 50% fall in orders and increasing scrap prices. ACB sells hot rolled coils particularly to Spanish tube makers. It is reported that, the decline in orders are in relation with the stocks which are retained by the customer. ACB is an electric arc furnace based mini mill, consequently it is easy for Arcelor to cut down production at the plant. Furthermore, the closure of plant will not effect Arcelor's other plants production. The plant closed in July until August 12 and is in operation up to September 13. The production is expected to take place from October 6 to November 17. After the production, the plant will be closed until the end of 2003. The closure periods will result in dismissal of 413 employees.