ArcelorMittal Poland informs that after detailed analyses, the company has decided to permanently close the coke oven battery in its unit in Krakow.
At the end of last year the only coke oven battery in Krakow was hot idled. - Hot idling of this plant allowed for the possible resumption of coke production if market conditions improved. Unfortunately, this did not happen - explains Wojciech Koszuta, CEO of ArcelorMittal Poland. – This type of standstill is very costly - it results primarily from the cost of natural gas that we use to fuel the installation. Continuing it, hoping that the situation will improve, is economically unjustified, he adds.
In addition, the decarbonisation plans of many industries in the coming years will gradually reduce the demand for coke.
Solutions for company employees
– Long-term, experienced employees are the pillar of our company,that's why we always try to offer them jobs in other positions, finance retraining and compensate for possible travel to work in another of our locations – emphasizes Stanisław Ból, HR director of ArcelorMittal Poland. - We found jobs for the majority of over 230 employees during the hot idling and we have already prepared job offers in other plants for appx. 70 who maintained the battery during the hot idling. Our goal is to offer everyone the best possible solution, in cooperation with trade unions, as we have done so far - he assures.
Currently, steel processing plants operate in Krakow: the most modern hot rolling mill in Europe and a cold rolling mill with a new galvanizing plant and a organic coating line. In recent years alone, ArcelorMittal Poland has invested over PLN 135 million in this part. Currently, the company is implementing two projects worth a total of PLN 100 million: an environmental project in the annealing plant (hydrogen furnaces worth over PLN 52 million), and in the galvanizing plant we are carrying out work enabling the production of a new galvanic coating with the addition of magnesium, which will expand the range of the Krakow steelworks (this project will require further PLN 40 million). Thus, the value of the company's investment in the Krakow unit in recent years is almost a quarter of a billion PLN.
