High electricity and gas prices are forcing European companies to cut back or stop production en masse. This is especially true of the steel industry. One of the world's largest steel producers, AlcelorMittal (Germany), which is the second largest steelmaker in terms of output, announced that the operation of its steel melting plant would be suspended indefinitely at the end of the month.

The largest French Aluminum Dunkerque, which produces 285,000 tons of aluminum a year, had its output reduced until 2023. The reason was the 20% increase in electricity prices, reports Reuters. In addition, announced the closure or reduction of production plants in several other European countries such as Spain, Belgium, Norway, Slovakia and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, the main European stock indexes ended yesterday's trading session mainly in the plus. British FTSE 100 and French CAC 40 gained 0.33% each, only German DAX closed slightly down by 0.09%.