Huta Czestochowa metallurgical furnaces will start operating early next year

Polish plate rolling mill Huta Czestochowa began cold re-operation on Friday under a new tenant, state-owned coal exporter and steelmaker Weglokoks.

After more than a year of downtime, the plant's equipment was not in the best condition, but workers managed to begin commissioning on schedule, new CEO of Huta Czestochowa Adrian Sienicki told Wirtualny Nowy Przemys l (WNP). However, technological problems allow Weglokoks to assess the state of the plant and its investment needs.

Weglokoks already operates the Walcownia Blach Batory (WBB) plate rolling mill, which supplies plates to Polish arms manufacturer Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ). The relaunch and potential acquisition of Huta Czestochowa, which can produce armor plates, could strengthen Weglokoks' position in this market, Sienicki notes.

The plant provides a faster supply chain, which is important in the current uncertain geopolitical climate, he adds. Weglokoks is already negotiating with the Polish Ministry of Defense and PGZ about the supply of plates from Częstochowa.

The company is not concerned that Czestochowa could take market share from WBB, as it is considering reorienting production at the latter to produce smaller volumes of specialized, high-margin products.

Although Weglokoks has shelved plans for its electric arc hot rolling mill project in Ruda Śląska, Huta Czestochowa will eventually require additional slab supplies. Its EAF has a capacity of 700,000 tonnes/year of crude steel, while its plate mill has a capacity of 1.2 million tonnes/year. However, Czestochowa can currently be used to supply slabs to other Weglokoks rolling mills, Sienicki notes.

“In the case of Huta Czestochowa, we see some opportunities for modernization, but it is too early to talk about it. We believe that the potential acquisition of this steel plant will be an excellent investment that will complement the assets we have in the Weglokoks group,” he told WNP.