Factories in Spain cut production amid soaring energy prices

OVIEDO, Spain

Steel giant ArcelorMittal confirmed on Thursday that the company will not reopen its factory in Bilbao, Spain as planned this week due to high energy prices.

"The price of energy is high, and it eats into our margins, so the idea is to not restart production because we would probably lose money," said Borja Maestre, a spokesperson from the ArcelorMittal Sestao plant.

That is only one announcement that could lead to the loss of employment and output of the Spanish industry.

For the first time, paper producer Saica Group announced that it would close three of its four factories in Spain "given that the price of gas has gone up by 300% in Spain in just eight months."

Other companies recently announcing production pauses or factory closures in Spain include Pamesa, Ferroglobe, and Michelin, which could lead to hundreds of layoffs.

In August, electricity prices hit a record high in Spain despite price caps on natural gas that the government says reduced the cost by around 15%.

On Thursday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that the government will soon slash taxes on natural gas bills from 21% to 5% in October.

While the Spanish government has ruled out any energy rationing this winter due to the country's low reliance on Russian gas, businesses say they cannot stay competitive amid record-high energy prices.

Spain has already passed two economic packages to ease the financial blow of inflation and the Russian war in Ukraine that cost around €25 billion ($24.9 billion) combined.