ArcelorMittal to start Belval’s new EAF hot commissioning
ArcelorMittal is shortly expected to begin hot commissioning of its new electric arc furnace at the Belval site in Luxembourg, a source close to the steelmaker tells Kallanish.
The commissioning marks the final phase of the firm’s SteelUp! project at Belval, with full ramp-up scheduled for early January. Since mid-October, the steelmaker has been demolishing the old EAF and finalising the construction of the new unit.
The brownfield SteelUp! project focuses on modernising Belval and relocating production of semi-finished products supplied to the Rodange sections mill. Belval is now equipped with a brand new EAF, vacuum degassing unit, and a revamped continuous casting line. The modernisation will enhance energy efficiency and increase steel production capacity by nearly 15%.
With the new EAF replacing the unit that has been in operation since 1997, ArcelorMittal Long Products Luxembourg will become self-sufficient in crude steel production. It will fully cover the requirements of finished products in the Grand Duchy once the new equipment reaches full production, the source confirms.
The project comprises a digitised “no man on the floor” EAF with increased safety, a 15% energy consumption reduction, and 15% heavy sections productivity hike. The new vacuum degassing system will reduce dissolved gas.
BCSA calls for UK government support for steel
The British Constructional Steelwork Association (BCSA) is calling for the UK government to take action to support the domestic steel industry which is facing “imminent threat”, Kallanish learns.
In a letter to business secretary Peter Kyle, BCSA chief executive Jonathan Clemens says the future of domestic steelmaking, steel manufacturing and construction in the UK is under threat, as well as the sectors exporting potential. Clemens expresses serious concern that the “government has not yet taken full control of British Steel,” highlighting it as a key supplier to the steel manufacturing sector.
“This continued delay and uncertainty will have disastrous consequences for our entire industry,” the letter notes.
It adds that current UK procurement specifications and government policies are in many cases excluding UK steelmaking and manufacturing. UK steelmakers have previously highlighted this barrier to entry.
“We cannot lower our carbon footprint without having electric arc furnaces, nor can we improve virgin steelmaking without new, modern blast furnaces. Both are needed,” the assocation contends.
“We face heavily subsidised competition from overseas companies with much lower energy costs, cheaper labour and working conditions that significantly lower their costs. As a result, specifiers are encouraged to use steel imports and even offshore manufacturing to meet carbon targets and lower cost,” it continues.
The letter warns that without urgent action this could spell the end for UK steelmaking and manufacturing.
The BCSA represents 150 businesses employing 30,000 people in the steel manufacturing and construction industry.
UAHE publishes December 2025 edition of InfoAcero
UAHE has published the December 2025 edition of its magazine InfoAcero.
This new issue includes, among others, an opinion article by Roberto González, President of UAHE, as well as the latest UAHE Index tracking the evolution of steel procurement prices from September 2024 to October 2025.
The magazine also features Eurofer’s outlook for the fourth quarter of the year, an overview of the construction sector in Spain based on the December Euroconstruct report, and a contribution on human resources by Agustín Barroso, HR Director at HIEMESA.
In addition, the publication presents UAHE’s training calendar for the first courses of 2026 and highlights upcoming sector events, including EUROMETAL Steel Net Forum Iberia 2026, to be held on 27–28 April in Santander.
Revista InfoAcero December 2025
Economists confirm tariffs’ heavy toll on German automakers
Germany’s automotive industry has become one of the country’s segments hardest hit by US tariffs, according to a report from the Cologne Institute for Economic Research examined by Kallanish.
The study finds that German exports of motor vehicles and parts, machinery and chemical products are particularly impacted. Together these operations account for more than two-fifths of German exports to the US and have been an outsized contributor to the overall decline in overseas shipments.
“Combined, these three sectors alone have dragged Germany’s exports to the US down by over 5.2 percentage points compared to the previous year, representing more than two-thirds of the overall decline in German exports to the US,” the report notes.
The relatively high tariff burden on motor vehicles and parts before the tariff agreement between the EU and US in August 2025 likely contributed significantly to the sharp drop of 14% in German automotive exports to the US compared with the previous year. German machinery exports to the US are partially subject to a substantially higher tariff rate of 50%, which applies to steel, aluminium and related products.
“Accordingly, German machinery exports to the US fell by 9.5% in the first three quarters of 2025. For metals, stronger front-loading effects in the first quarter explain the initial increase in exports, while subsequent quarters saw declines,” the economists’ document observes. “In key sectors, German exports to the United States have thus been pushed back to levels seen in 2022 or even early 2019. Without the significant upswing in German exports to the US following the Covid-19 pandemic until Donald Trump’s re-election in fall 2024, the downturn would have been even more painful.”
“Since US import tariffs are unlikely to return to previous levels anytime soon, the development in the third quarter of 2025 may represent an approximation of the ‘new normal’ for German exports to the US,” the study author Samina Sultan notes. “The development of German exports to the US has a significant impact on global exports for certain sectors. For motor vehicles and parts, the negative development in exports to the US accounts for nearly half of the global export decline. Losses in the US market are also a key factor behind the overall 3.3% drop in German machinery exports worldwide.”
In December, Volkswagen has stopped car production at one of its plants in Germany for the first time in the company’s 88-year history. The production line in Dresden is the one affected.
Volkswagen is preparing major changes to its development strategy. That is why VW’s future lineup in Europe and North America will be filled with cars organised according to the principle of a sequential hybrid. These are the so-called extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), which are very popular in China but not yet widespread in Europe and North America.
Earlier, German defence manufacturer Rheinmetall said it is considering taking over one of Volkswagen’s soon-to-be-unused plants, as the arms maker seeks additional production capacity in Germany while domestic carmakers struggle (see Kallanish passim).
ArcelorMittal Spain’s Avilés EAF project advances
The upgrade of ArcelorMittal steelworks at Aviles in northern Spain is advancing. The environmental commission of the Principality of Asturias (CAMA) approved the environmental impact statement for the construction of a new electric arc furnace (EAF), Kallanish notes.
The Helena-EAF Avilés project is still awaiting the final consent of ArcelorMittal’s board.
Works will be carried out inside the steelworks and involve replacing one of the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) converters with an EAF with a capacity of 2.5 million tonnes/year of crude steel production. This will enable the mill to operate in hybrid mode, combining the traditional blast furnace route with the new electric one.
“The resulting facility will have one BOF converter in operation and one on standby, and an EAF, both based on pig iron and scrap use, and in the case of the EAF, also by direct reduced iron (DRI),” states the project documentation. “This flexibility will allow the mix of raw materials to be adapted according to the grades of steel to be produced, with the possibility of reaching up to 100% scrap in the load mix.”
The electric route will include an additional ladle furnace, which will strengthen the plant’s capacity to produce high-quality flat steel with a lower carbon footprint. The project will be completed with a new electrical substation.