Azerbaijan’s Baku Steel temporarily halts production

Azerbaijan's largest steel producer Baku Steel Company has temporarily halted its production operations citing lack of available scrap at the price it can offer. The mill is scheduled to be reopened in one month's time.
 
"The scrap suppliers are not satisfied with the price our company offers. While earlier this year we were paying AZN 200/mt (approx. $249.5/mt) for scrap, currently our offer stands at the level of AZN 115/mt (approx. $143.5/mt). This is because we decreased the price for rebar, our mill's main product, from AZN 1,100/mt (approx. $1,372/mt) to AZN 620/mt (approx. $773/mt), due to the financial crisis, which led to a price drop in Russian and Ukrainian rebar imports," Baku Steel Company's press secretary Namig Ahmadov commented.
 
For the duration of the stoppage, more than 1,000 workers have been sent on 30-35 days' paid leave.
 
Baku Steel Company, specialized in the production of low and medium carbon steel billets and construction reinforced bars, has an annual capacity of 350,000 mt and needs about 1,000 to 1,500 mt of raw material on a daily basis to operate at full capacity.