TASR reported that Slovakian steelmaker US Steel Kosice has shut the second of its three blast furnaces until early next year as it faces high energy costs and a drop in demand and currently has only one of three blast furnaces in operation. US Steel spokesman Mr Ján Bača told TASR “On December 2, the management of US Steel Košice decided to temporarily shut down blast furnace number one due to very high energy prices, low market demand and a sharp increase in steel imports. We expect to resume the operation of the two blast furnaces at the beginning of 2023.” Already in September, the company shut down blast furnace number two, which was originally supposed to last only 60 days. In mid-November, steel mills also introduced reduced working hours until the end of the year. Mr Bača had told TASR at that time “We have operations that would produce a loss under current conditions. The costs of raw materials and especially of energy have increased extremely, and on the contrary, the prices of steel products have fallen substantially. We are therefore saving in every possible place and project in order to overcome this difficult period.” According to information published by the United States Steel Corporation, the US Steel Europe segment, which includes the Košice steel mills, reported a loss before interest and taxes of USD 32 million for the third quarter of this year. For comparison, in the third quarter of last year, on the contrary, it was a profit at the level of USD 394 million
TASR reported that Slovakian steelmaker US Steel Kosice has shut the second of its three blast furnaces until early next year as it faces high energy costs and a drop in demand and currently has only one of three blast furnaces in operation. US Steel spokesman Mr Ján Bača told TASR “On December 2, the management of US Steel Košice decided to temporarily shut down blast furnace number one due to very high energy prices, low market demand and a sharp increase in steel imports. We expect to resume the operation of the two blast furnaces at the beginning of 2023.” Already in September, the company shut down blast furnace number two, which was originally supposed to last only 60 days. In mid-November, steel mills also introduced reduced working hours until the end of the year. Mr Bača had told TASR at that time “We have operations that would produce a loss under current conditions. The costs of raw materials and especially of energy have increased extremely, and on the contrary, the prices of steel products have fallen substantially. We are therefore saving in every possible place and project in order to overcome this difficult period.” According to information published by the United States Steel Corporation, the US Steel Europe segment, which includes the Košice steel mills, reported a loss before interest and taxes of USD 32 million for the third quarter of this year. For comparison, in the third quarter of last year, on the contrary, it was a profit at the level of USD 394 million
