Belgian steelmaker NLMK La Louvière has declared force majeure after a fire forced it to halt production operations at the end of last week. The fire, which occurred at the plant's hot rolling mill, was extinguished rapidly and with no injuries to personnel. The company said it hopes to restart production operations by the end of this week. According to company sources, at the time of the accident, the steel mill was not working at maximum capacity: the plants were still in the start-up phase following the €150-million investments to produce thinner and more resistant coils, as well as to increase annual production from 1.7 million mt to 2.2 million mt of hot rolled products. Company sources estimate that the temporary shutdown will cause the loss of 50,000 mt of production.
NLMK La Louvière, a subsidiary of Russian group NLMK, produces hot rolled and cold rolled coils for the automotive, construction and engineering sectors.