Report - ArcelorMittal Schifflange - Luxembourg, Jun '14

[drhowser]

Visited with Paradox and Bigjobs, this is another one from our 3500 mile summer road trip odyssey. It turned out to be a nice calm stress free wander for the afternoon. Just as well really, I'd shredded my trousers running away from a power station the day before and had been forced to repair them with gaffer tape and Jobs' sewing kit, while the sole had started to become detached from one of Jobs' shoes, requiring regular stops to repair with some scavenged sellotape..

Schifflange is now well under demolition and a good chunk of the site has gone, there's still plenty to see and it's well worth a look if you're passing though. There's plenty of typically massive machinery and buildings along with interesting bits and pieces to rummage through.

ArcelorMittal have the following to say on their site:

Rodange and Schifflange

ArcelorMittal Rodange & Schifflange SA is an operational unit of ArcelorMittal Long Carbon Europe and produces steel since 1872.

The Schifflange steelplant has an annual production capacity of 1,000 000 tonnes of 130x130mm billets. Its facilities include a twin shell shaft electric arc furnace and a 6 strands continuous caster.

The Rodange profiles mill A has an annual production capacity of 350 000 tonnes. It produces crane rails, special sections, merchant bars and sheet piles. The Rodange rebar mill C has an annual production capacity of 600 000 tonnes.It produces Tempcore standard rebars and special rebars.

A 2011 article from Platts shows that the closure had been ongoing for several years.

ArcelorMittal to halt EAF at Schifflange, cut rolling ops, also at Rodange
London (Platts)--23Sep2011/725 am EDT/1125 GMT

Europe's biggest steelmaker ArcelorMittal is to halt melting at its Schifflange works in Luxembourg and reduce output on several of its long products rolling lines, and similarly at its nearby Rodange facility on weak demand in Europe.

An LCGB-SESM union notice dated Thursday said Schifflange was set to shut for an indefinite time as ArcelorMittal blamed a "sharp deterioration in economic conditions from the third quarter of 2011."

The electric arc furnace at Schifflange has a 1.3 million mt/year capacity. The facilities produce bars, sections, and crane rails for the European market.

Schifflange has a finished products capacity of 800,000 mt/year of wire rod, while Rodange can roll a total 400,000 mt/year of heavy and medium sections.

ArcelorMittal confirms that it intends to take temporary measures due to the weakness of the demand in Europe, but will clarify exactly what will be the closures at a meeting on Tuesday. The full details have yet to be firmed up by the company, a spokesman told Platts Friday.

A number of rolling lines at the sites are expected to continue producing but it is unclear if they will make use of the billets and blooms stocked at the sites or if they will receive supplies from other mills.

The Luxembourg plants are the first long product mills to be affected by temporary closures in the ArcelorMittal group this year. The company recently announced a series of temporary closures at flat steel producing facilities in Germany, Belgium and France, blaming weak demand and a need to better align output with orders.

The Luxemburger Wort newspaper published this article in 2012,

The ArcelorMittal steel site in Schifflange is to close its doors “indefinitelyâ€￾ from January 2013 onwards, the company has announced.

After months of speculation about the future of the site, management announced the decision at an extraordinary meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.

The site's 47 employees will be re-assigned to the Belval and Differdange sites while the remaining orders will be passed on to a steel site in Duisburg, Germany.

Luxembourg's unions criticised the decision, saying that it was yet another step in the decline of the Grand Duchy's industrial sector.

The LCGB said that Lakshmi Mittal was staying “true to himself and pursues his route and his objectives.â€￾ With production halted at the site, the LCGB fears that the site will be abandoned with hundreds of potential jobs lost.

The OGBL meanwhile said that the problems at the Schifflange site were due to poor management rather than difficult markets.

At a steel Tripartite on October 26, the union intends to present findings, based on an audit, showing that the Rodange and Schifflange steel sites are viable, and that everything should be done on the part of ArcelorMittal and the Luxembourg government to save them.

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[Wevsky]

Re: ArcelorMittal Schifflange, Luxembourg. Jun '14

Thats nice that matey ,you really did cover some sites while driving a rally

 

[The Kwan]

Re: ArcelorMittal Schifflange, Luxembourg. Jun '14

Quality pictures Doug, some excellent signage and posters here too. You peeps really made the best of your trip, dunno how you managed to fit it all in.

 

[tweek]

Re: ArcelorMittal Schifflange, Luxembourg. Jun '14

Flange

 

[Camera Shy]

Re: ArcelorMittal Schifflange, Luxembourg. Jun '14

Another great site, ace photos.

 

[Lost Explorer]

Re: ArcelorMittal Schifflange, Luxembourg. Jun '14

Lots of industrial porn goodness