ArcelorMittal Plans 2027 Duisburg Steelmaking Exit, Affecting 550 Jobs
Key Facts
ArcelorMittal has announced a plan to end steelmaking at its Duisburg site from October 2027 by closing the steel shop, continuous-casting facility and billet rolling mill. Implementation remains subject to approval by the company's supervisory board.
The plan is expected to affect about 550 of roughly 800 jobs at the site. ArcelorMittal said social dialogue over a redundancy plan would begin in September 2026, making workforce arrangements and supervisory-board approval the principal next steps.
The plan does not close the entire Duisburg site. The wire rod mill would continue operating with semi-finished billets supplied by other ArcelorMittal sites and external European producers. The company's Hamburg plant, which uses the DRI-EAF route, can supply billets with a lower carbon footprint.
The decision follows the approaching end of molten pig-iron deliveries from ThyssenKrupp Steel. ArcelorMittal terminated the contract in December 2024 with effect from September 2027 because of a significant increase in the proposed renewal cost. It said alternative supply arrangements and options to decarbonise Duisburg steelmaking were examined, but none proved economically viable.
Operationally, the steel shop converts delivered molten pig iron into steel, while the casting and rolling facilities produce billets that feed the wire rod mill. Under the plan, those upstream stages would stop and the remaining rolling operation would rely on billets supplied from outside the site.
The restructuring comes against a weak German market. Germany produced 34.1 million tonnes of crude steel in 2025, down 8.6% from 2024 and below 40 million tonnes for a fourth consecutive year. The German Steel Association attributed the pressure to weak demand, rising imports and internationally uncompetitive energy prices.
The decision is a retreat from the decarbonisation option examined for steelmaking inside Duisburg, but it does not establish that Germany's low-emissions steel ambitions have ended. The continuing wire rod mill and the potential use of lower-carbon billets from Hamburg define the plan's scope more accurately.