Liberty Steel is closing one of the three ovens at its Ostrava site in Czechia and there is a growing expectation that the company may idle its last two operational blast furnaces in Europe in the coming months.

 

A spokesperson for Liberty declined to comment on "rumours" about the potential idling of blast furnaces at Ostrava and Galati in Romania, owing to strained working capital. The furnaces are both currently operational, but sources suggest senior leadership is contemplating stopping the units.

 

The company is closing the largest of the coke ovens at Ostrava, number 11, as it is "highly inefficient and has become increasingly unprofitable due to the excess capacity in the market" a group spokesperson said.

 

"The government has so far been unsuccessful in reducing the impacts of high energy prices and some of the highest inflation in Europe on our businesses, so we have had to take some decisive action in the best interest of the business," the spokesperson added.

 

Ostrava has been behind on payments to some suppliers in recent months. In April, the company told Argus that the market was experiencing challenging conditions, when asked about money it owed to local power supplier Tameh Czech. Argus' benchmark north European HRC index fell from €849.75/t at the start of April to €826.50/t at the end of the month — it is now substantially lower, at €638.50/t.

 

Liberty is closing the coke ovens at its Whyalla plant in Australia and plans to import coke to feed the furnace — this closure was planned as the company intends to have an electric-arc furnace operational by 2025. The company is also importing billet from the Middle East to feed some of its Australian rolling lines, sources suggest.

 

It recently idled the sole operational blast furnace at its Dunaferr site and is feeding the rolling mills with slab from Galati. Raw material suppliers to Ostrava have said in recent months that the blast furnace would be idled by the year end. argusmedia