Finland headquartered global stainless steel leader Outokumpu will delay the restart of one of its ferrochrome furnaces after a maintenance break due to the elevated electricity price. Outokumpu said “Due to exceptionally high energy prices and an unstable energy market, stainless steel producer Outokumpu has decided to delay the restart of one of its three ferrochrome furnaces after a planned maintenance break. The maintenance break starts on 7 September and restart was initially planned for week 40. Ferrochrome production will continue at about 70% of its full capacity.”Outokumpu’s President Ferrochrome Mr Martti Sassi said “Energy prices have increased significantly, which has had a negative impact on our cost competitiveness compared to our non-European competitors. We hope that decisive actions are taken at both EU and national level to stabilize the energy market. We are keeping a close eye on the situation and hope that politicians will take an active role in normalizing the operating environment. We have already been optimizing our ferrochrome production by not producing ferrochrome at the highest hourly prices to avoid the worst peaks in prices, as communicated earlier*. The decision to delay the reopening of one of our furnaces is a continuation of the ferrochrome production optimization.”Despite the decrease in Outokumpu’s ferrochrome production, the company’s stainless steel production will remain on the same level as guided in January–June interim report, and these measures will not impact customer deliveries or financial outlook for the third quarter.
Finland headquartered global stainless steel leader Outokumpu will delay the restart of one of its ferrochrome furnaces after a maintenance break due to the elevated electricity price. Outokumpu said “Due to exceptionally high energy prices and an unstable energy market, stainless steel producer Outokumpu has decided to delay the restart of one of its three ferrochrome furnaces after a planned maintenance break. The maintenance break starts on 7 September and restart was initially planned for week 40. Ferrochrome production will continue at about 70% of its full capacity.”Outokumpu’s President Ferrochrome Mr Martti Sassi said “Energy prices have increased significantly, which has had a negative impact on our cost competitiveness compared to our non-European competitors. We hope that decisive actions are taken at both EU and national level to stabilize the energy market. We are keeping a close eye on the situation and hope that politicians will take an active role in normalizing the operating environment. We have already been optimizing our ferrochrome production by not producing ferrochrome at the highest hourly prices to avoid the worst peaks in prices, as communicated earlier*. The decision to delay the reopening of one of our furnaces is a continuation of the ferrochrome production optimization.”Despite the decrease in Outokumpu’s ferrochrome production, the company’s stainless steel production will remain on the same level as guided in January–June interim report, and these measures will not impact customer deliveries or financial outlook for the third quarter.
