Russia’s Severstal, one of the key flat steel producers in the CIS, is about to start scheduled maintenance at one of its oxygen converters. According to market sources, the company is planning to stop the facility starting from today, January 9, for a period of 10 days. The company’s second converter will be undergoing maintenance in March, again for a 10-day period, SteelOrbis has learned. The company normally operates three oxygen converters, each with a capacity of around 3 million mt per year.
As a result, Severstal will be practically out of the merchant steel slab market for around four months. At the same time, as reported previously, the company’s own hot rolled coil (HRC) production will not be impacted, sources report. Currently, Severstal’s allocation for exports other than to the CIS countries is around 200,000 mt of HRC, SteelOrbis understands.