Steel Market Production Cuts – ArcelorMittal announced a permanent shutdown of the 2.5 mtpy Florange, France slab plant that was idled in 2011. The company has made a commitment to the French government to try and sell the plant in the next 60 days, while the finishing lines will continue to operate by sourcing slab from the company’s Dunkirk mill.

Steel Market Production Cuts – ArcelorMittal’s Kazakhstani subsidiary Temirtau aims to cut rolled steel production by 17% in October to 210,000 tonnes, furthering the 10% year-to-date production decline experienced so far this year.

Steel Market Production Cuts – ArcelorMittal will begin to idle the wire rod mill at the Schifflange facility by the end of the year, completing the indefinite shutdown that began in 4Q 2011. The wire rod mill has been operating at only 10% of capacity since then, and orders are expected to be shifted to the newer Duisburg,Germanyplant.

Steel Market Production Increases – Yigang, a subsidiary of Chinese steelmaker Shougang, has finished the testing phase of a new 800,000 tpy bar mill that is part of an upgrade plan to increase both crude and finished steel production at the facility to 2 mtpy.

Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker WSP Holdings announced that production at a new 200,000 tpy OCTG plant in Thailand started up in 1H, and an American Petroleum Institute audit was completed in July.

Steel Market Production Increases – Russian steel producer MMK Group plans to boost output at the MMK-METIZ hardware plant by 10% from 496,000 tpy in 2012 to nearly 546,000 tpy in 2013.

Steel Market Production Increases – Taiwanese steelmaker Chung Hung Steel is targeting June 2013 for the start of the testing phase for a new 200,000 tpy structural/OCTG pipe mill in western Taiwan.

Steel Market Production Increases – Turkish steelmaker Tosyali is set to begin operations of a new Algerian facility in February 2013. The plant will be comprised of a 1 mtpy EAF and an 800,000 tpy rebar rolling mill, although the intial run-rate is expected to be 300,000 tpy until hitting a 500,000 tpy rate by June.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Brazilian steelmaker VSB has pushed back the original completion date of 1H 2013 for the new integrated steel facility by as much as two years after the second blast furnace was delayed.

Sources: Steel Business Briefing, SteelOrbis, American Metal Market