Europe plans to significantly reduce the number of blast furnaces

The World Steel Association (Worldsteel) has warned that many factories in Europe are likely to shut down blast furnaces over the next twenty years to manage excess capacity in the region. According to the chairman of Worldsteel Wolfgang Eder, 6 to 8 facilities, which provide almost two-thirds of the supply of commercial products, will need to be considered for closure in the near future. He made this statement at the Handelsblatt conference held in Germany.

A large number of European furnaces will be closed by 2035, unable to compete with the relatively low cost of production at factories in Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, China and India. Eder called on the European authorities to pursue favorable policies to support the growth of the region's steel sector.

He believes that European steelmakers should focus on high-tech products with high added value. In addition, European factories are already lagging behind in terms of the latest technological developments. The lack of fresh investment and technological modernization is likely to lead to the fact that enterprises in the region will be uncompetitive compared to other regions. Eder noted that there have been a large number of mergers and acquisitions in the European steel sector over the past few years, but they have not been able to
provide fruitful structural changes.

Of the nearly 210 million tons of crude steel capacity in the EU, almost 30-40 million tons are considered excessive. This means that at least 6-8 installations will be closed over the next few years, Eder noted.