The Arcelor Mittal plant in Olaberria stops production due to the rise in the price of energy

the plant of ArcelorMittal in Olaberria (Gipuzkoa) has stopped production from 07:00 hours until at least the next midnight, due to the cost of the electric power. This afternoon it will be evaluated if production starts again from this Wednesday, based on the price of energy set for that day, as confirmed by sources from the group.

Last October, the multinational steel company already warned that Olaberria’s was one of those that could be affected by the “selective and short” stops of production that the group decided to carry out in its electric steel mills for long products in Europe, due to the rise in the price of energy electrical.

The decision affects Arcelor Mittal Europe Long Products and is motivated by the “excessive” escalation in electricity prices. This leads him to carry out selective and short production stops depending on the time slots in which the cost of electricity is higher in each of the countries. This measure has already been applied in some of its plants, after daily monitoring of prices.

As reported at the end of last year, the plants that were going to be affected are electric steel mills for long products and in the Basque Country the only one existing is the one in Olaberria, which has a workforce of around 410 people.

Euskadi, “in a situation of energy emergency”

The Minister of Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment, Arantxa Tapiahas ensured that both the Basque Country and the European Union are in a energy emergency situation caused by the war, which requires “extraordinary and forceful” measures by the EU because, if the current escalation in prices continues, electro-intensive companies will be “doomed to stop”.