Spokespeople from Czech Republic-based steelmaker Liberty Ostrava and Romanian steel producer Liberty Galati, subsidiaries of UK-based Liberty Steel, have stated that one blast furnace each at the plants has been idled.
Blast furnace No. 3 at Ostrava plant was temporarily idled on October 23 due to steel demand across Europe continuing to be impacted by macro-economic issues. The company will carry out maintenance during the shutdown to increase the stability and reliability of the furnace. During this period, customers’ orders will still be produced as the relevant rolling mills will remain in production, using pre-prepared stock, for the business to continue serving its customers. The furnace in question is planned to be restarted within two weeks.
Blast furnace No. 5 at the Galati plant has also been temporarily idled due to the severe weather in the Black Sea and the dramatically low water levels of the Danube which have impacted the delivery of sufficient raw materials to safely run the furnace. The blast furnace will be restarted later this month.