ArcelorMittal (MT), the world's largest steel maker is temporarily idling steel production at two plants in Spain during the fourth quarter, a company spokesman said Thursday.

ArcelorMittal will halt crude steel production and rolling at its Madrid plant for three months starting in October. The plant can produce about 700,000 metric tons annually of crude steel and rolls medium and heavy sections.

ArcelorMittal will also close its strip products plant in Sestao for two months starting in November. The plant has a capacity to produce 1.8 million tons of hot rolled steel coils and 600,000 tons of pickled coils a year, according to ArcelorMittal's web site.

A company spokesman said the closures were temporary and said the situation would be reassessed during the fourth quarter. The state-funded layoff program will be used to support affected workers, the spokesman said.

ArcelorMittal's chief executive and chairman Lakshmi Mittal said last week that ArcelorMittal is executing an asset optimization plan, mainly focused in Europe, which will result in temporary closure of high-cost blast furnace operations in favor of boosting output from low-cost production facilities.

-By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9328; alex.macdonald@dowjones.com

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