USSK shuts down second blast furnace

US Steel Kosice (USSK) closed its second blast furnace before early 2023 due to high energy costs and low demand. Two out of three DP firms are currently idle.

On September 4, the company stopped blast furnace No. 2. It was originally intended to be a 60-day scheduled maintenance, but the plant is not operational.

USSK reduced shipments by 19% year-over-year in the third quarter to 867,000 net tons. Raw steel production fell 26% to 946,000 tonnes, bringing capacity utilization to 75% compared to 101% a year earlier. In addition to lower demand, results were also negatively impacted by rising energy prices, which parent company US Steel said will also remain high.

Shipments in the nine months to September fell 7% year-over-year to 3.04 million tonnes, with raw steel production down 13% to 3.25 million tonnes, resulting in 87% capacity utilization. Net sales rose 13% to $3.5 billion, but Ebitda fell 26% to $577 million.

Amid recent reports that Metinvest is considering acquiring USSK, the Ukrainian steelmaker said its interest in the Slovak smelter could be renewed in the future, but Russia's incursion into Ukraine dampens any acquisition potential for the time being.