FRANCE’S government will invest €1.7 billion (£1.44 bn) in ArcelorMittal’s two steel plants as part of the state efforts to decarbonise manufacturing.
The world’s leading steelmaker said it will implement the investment plan at its Fos-sur-Mer and Dunkirk sites in France by 2030 to reduce its carbon emission in the country by close to 40 per cent by the turn of the decade.
In Fos-sur-Mer, ArcelorMittal will build an electric arc furnace that will complement the ladle furnace announced last March.
It will build a 2.5 million ton direct reduction of iron (DRI) unit in Dunkirk to transform iron ore, using hydrogen instead of coal.
According to the company, the new industrial facilities will be operational from 2027 and will gradually replace three out of its five blast furnaces in France by 2030 - two out of three in Dunkirk and one out of two in Fos-sur-Mer. The production capacities at the sites will remain unchanged.
However, the French government’s investment, announced during prime minister Jean Castex’s visit to Dunkirk on Friday (4) will require clearance from the European Union authorities.
But ArcelorMittal expects the approval “by the second quarter of this year”.
The investment, which is also subject to the availability of economically viable energy infrastructure and supply, will help reduce the company’s CO2 emissions in France by 7.8 million tons per year by 2030. The company seeks to achieve carbon neutrality in the country by 2050.
ArcelorMittal Méditerranée CEO Bruno Ribo said the Fos-sur-Mer site will undergo a “first-of-a-kind” transformation to decarbonise steelmaking.
“Our teams are already implementing a first investment – our ladle furnace – which will increase our production of low carbon steel. We are ready to continue.”
Yves Koeberlé, the CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe (flat products) thanked the government for its decarbonisation efforts, saying they will enable a “major transformation of our sites in Fos-sur-Mer and Dunkirk”.
The two sites together account for more than a third of ArcelorMittal’s flat steel production in Europe.
“ArcelorMittal is committed to decarbonising its plants in Europe to serve our industrial customers – automotive, packaging, construction, transport but also solar and wind energy and future networks for hydrogen and CO2 capture,” Koeberlé said.
Last year, the German government came up with financial support for ArcelorMittal’s demonstration plant in Hamburg that will produce steel using hydrogen sourced from renewable energy.
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