Outokumpu to end coil production in Sheffield

Outokumpu to end coil production in Sheffield

Finland-based steelmaker Outokumpu announced that it completed the review of its stainless steel cold rolling operation in Sheffield, UK, and the Board of Directors decided to end Outokumpu's operations at its Coil Products Sheffield (CPS) business unit. The decision will not affect Outokumpu's Sheffield-based melt shop, long products and special strip units, or its UK sales and distribution center. The company previously transferred new orders for the products produced at CPS to Tornio, Finland. Since the review indicated that CPS is posting losses, the Board decided to end production at CPS, which has an annual capacity of 300'000 tons. With the closure of CPS, the capacity of the Sheffield melt shop (SMACC) will be lowered to 300'000 tons from the current 500'000 tons in order to provide feedstock only for the long products and plate operations in the UK, Sweden and the US. Moreover, the capacity of Avesta Works, which rolls SMAAC slabs for CPS, will be adjusted to 450'000 tons. In line with the new structure, Outokumpu's melting capacity will be 2.5 million tons.