Ammie Announced The Partial Closure Of Its European Factories And Related Facilities

On September 2nd ArcelorMittal said it would close some of its European plants and facilities because of soaring gas and electricity costs.

From the end of September, the company plans to idle one blast furnace in Bremen, Germany, and one in Asturias, Spain, and to shut down its Hamburg wire plant in the fourth quarter.

Reiner Blaschek, chief executive of Ammie Germany, said the acceleration in energy prices had had a dramatic impact on the competitiveness of its products and that the federal government's planned increase in gas taxes in October was putting further pressure on production. In addition, the weak market demand also increased the company's operating pressure.

He is now a leading advocate of changing Europe's electricity market to gas, and has proposed opposing the federal government's gas tax.