NLMK Europe plans to close its electro-galvanizing facility in France

NLMK Europe, the European unit of the Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), has announced its intention to close the electro-galvanizing facility located in Beautor, France, amid the shrinking global market for electro-galvanized steel due to the strong decline of demand for automotive applications, and to focus on hot dip galvanized and pre-painted in its strip product coating business. During the coming months the company and unions will work on possible solutions as well as on a possible social plan to support affected workers. NLMK Europe also stated that the hot dip galvanizing and pre-painted lines based in Strasbourg, France will not be impacted.

 

Since 2013, NLMK has been implementing its strategy in Europe, focusing on operating efficiencies at the European facilities and rationalizing excess capacity. This has positively changed the competitiveness of the strip products business which has seen significant volume growth in 2015.