ArcelorMittal will invest in decarbonisation, product quality and increasing capacity at its Luxembourg long products facilities in Differdange and Belval. The company aims to commission new and revamped equipment at both plants between 2024 and 2026.
The investment will improve environmental footprint, relocate by-products management areas within the plants, reduce overall emissions, and increase output at Belval, the company said at an event in Luxembourg attended by Kallanish.
In Differdange, in the first phase, the project will relocate slug pits under a cover building away from neighbouring sites and closer to the electric arc furnace. The second phase of the project involves Differdange dismantling and installing a former converter secondary dedusting system from the ArcelorMittal Florange plant by year-end. The new dedusting unit will be connected to local canopy hoods for the rolling mill and steel plant by the end of 2025.
The company is also launching the “Steelup” project in Belval that involves a new digitized “no man on the floor” EAF with increased safety, a 15% energy consumption reduction, and 15% heavy sections productivity hike. The project includes a new vacuum degassing system to reduce dissolved gas and a continuous casting transformation system for new high-carbon steel grades and heavier beam blanks.
Targeting decarbonised production, the modernisation will help to reach a certified low carbon footprint for steel of below 300kg per tonne, cutting CO2 by 200,000 t/year. The Belval site will obtain the XCarb label for rails produced from mill A.
The investment for the new Belval EAF is about €67 million ($72.9m), including €15m of state subsidies. The revamp in Differdange will cost around €18m, including €5m from the local government.
ArcelorMittal Luxembourg produced 1.9 million tonnes of crude steel in 2022 and employs 3,368 workers. The new Belval EAF will increase ArcelorMittal Luxembourg production to 2.5 million t/y of steel, Kallanish notes.
ArcelorMittal has eight sites in Luxembourg including the administrative centres in Luxembourg City and Esch-sur-Alzette, several steel production units for long and wire products, beams and sheet piles as well as distribution, steel service centres, and an R&D centre in Esch-sur-Alzette.
While Belval produces steel sheet piles, Differdange manufactures heavy jumbo sections and high-performance steel grades for use in high-rise buildings. With this revamp, ArcelorMittal Luxembourg’s plants will cover the needs of finished rolled products in the Grand Duchy.
Natalia Capra France
