LN Mittal to close sole Luxembourg facility

The plant, of which Mittal owns 75% with the other 25% controlled by European steelmaker Arcelor, is likely to close in 2009 or 2010.

Mittal Steel is to close its only majority-owned steel factory in Luxembourg, a number of sources said on Friday amid controversy over its hostile bid for Arcelor.

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The plant, of which Mittal owns 75 per cent with the other 25 per cent controlled by European steelmaker Arcelor, is likely to close in 2009 or 2010, said the spokesman, Guenter de Backer.

The factory at Schifflange in southern Luxembourg employs 200 people, who are all expected to be taken on at other Arcelor plants, he said.

The closure plans came as a hostile takeover bid by Mittal Steel for Arcelor was being studied in Luxembourg, where a prospectus has been filed with the stock market regulator, according to a Mittal source.

Mittal Steel, which is registered in The Netherlands, says that the plan, if successful, would generate economies of scale of one billion dollars a year, of which 60 per cent would arise in the first year.