Britain's Liberty Steel has increased steel product prices in Ostrava by 20 euros per tonne at its recently acquired metallurgical plant in the Czech Republic and is cutting rolled steel production by 20 percent.
According to a spokesman for the Ostrava division of Liberty Steel, the cut in production will not affect employment, but workers will have to go on vacation or they will be transferred to other activities.
The company will suspend steel smelting, but will not permanently shut down production facilities.
Liberty Steel Ostrava is the largest steel producer in the Czech Republic.
The company justifies the temporary production cuts by raising raw material prices and reducing CO 2 emission quotas, as well as steel imports from outside the European Union, which it considers unfair.
According to Liberty Steel CEO Ashoka Patil, recent months have not been favorable for the steel industry in Europe and smelters are forced to respond by temporarily cutting production.
Liberty Steel acquired the Ostrava Steel Works from ArcelorMittal, completing the deal on July 1. The European Commission asked the latter to withdraw the asset, along with others in Europe, in order to legalize the purchase of the Ilva metallurgical plant in Italy. Liberty Ostrava has a production capacity of 3.6 million tons per year, but currently produces only 2.2 million tons of steel annually.
