ArcelorMittal is communicating to customers this week that delays are expected to deliveries across Europe due to the fires that impacted one blast furnace in northern Spain and another in northern France during the last two weeks.

In a letter to customers, the company says: "We must acknowledge that delays in execution of the existing orderbook are likely to be unavoidable and that allocations for fresh orderbook may also be reduced.”

Currently, blast furnace A at Gijon as well as the main blast furnace at Dunkirk are idled following the accidents on 22 March and 30 March respectively. "We are assessing the damages and the time needed to make the necessary repairs as well as the impact on our production plans. At this stage, given the severity of the incidents, it appears that several weeks will be needed to get back to standard production levels," the company says in the letter seen by Kallanish.

The letter was sent by the Flat Carbon Europe unit of ArcelorMittal, as the accidents have impacted furnaces mainly producing pig iron for slab and flat steel production.