Metinvest moves ahead with new green steel facility in Italy
The project was intended to promote the industrial revitalization of the town, located on the shores of Tuscany.
The new green steel plant will be based around an electric-arc-furnace (EAF) and will have capacity for 2.7 million tonnes per year of hot-rolled coil. The total investment was expected to reach €2.5 billion ($2.63 billion), Metinvest said.
“The plant will leverage technologies based on EAFs and recycled materials, including scrap, pig iron and direct-reduced iron [DRI] sourced from Ukraine,” Metinvest said in a statement seen by Fastmarkets.
According to Metinvest, Italian export credit agency SACE and other leading financial institutions in the country have officially expressed interest in providing financial support for the project.
Italian government grants were also expected to support the project.
The Italian port management authorities also confirmed the project’s alignment with their development plans, Metinvest said.
The joint declaration builds on already-signed agreements between all key stakeholders in the new green steel project – the Tuscany Region, the Municipality of Piombino, Italian equipment supplier Danieli, and Metinvest Adria.
An initial Memorandum of Intent was announced in January 2024, and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in April this year.
An additional Program Agreement was expected to be signed by the beginning of 2025, Fastmarkets understands. The document will define specific actions, including land remediation concessions, development contracts via Italy’s development agency Invitalia, employment protection measures, renewable energy initiatives, and improvements to the port infrastructure, Metinvest said.
“The project will help to strengthen the Italian steel industry and Ukraine’s mining operations, showcasing the potential of international cooperation in fostering sustainable industrial development,” Metinvest Group chief executive officer Yuriy Ryzhenkov said.
Complementing existing assets in Italy
The investment in the new green steel plant will also help Metinvest to complete the value chain of its metallurgical assets in Italy, and to reduce reliance on imported semi-finished products, Fastmarkets understands.
In Italy, Metinvest operates two rolling mills. Ferriera Valsider has two rolling lines for the production of heavy plate and hot-rolled coil. The heavy plate line has capacity for 400,000 tonnes per year while the HRC mill has capacity for 600,000 tpy. Trametal, meanwhile, is equipped with a heavy plate mill with capacity for 600,000 tpy.
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Metinvest used to feed Italian rolling mills with steel slab from its Ukrainian assets, supplying around 100,000 tonnes per month to its Italian mills, a source familiar with the matter told Fastmarkets.
After acquiring slab from Ukrainian assets became impossible due to Russia’s invasion, Metinvest and other Italian re-rollers had to look for alternative slab sources, and found them mainly in Asia.
Metinvest has been exploring opportunities to buy its own steelmaking facility in Europe since 2022.
Metinvest gains property rights at Piombino
This week, another agreement related to the construction of the new green steel plant came to light. JSW Steel Italy, a subsidiary of India’s JSW Steel and a current owner of the Piombino site, signed a commercial agreement with Metinvest Adria regarding the transfer of rights over part of the property.
Metinvest will have to pay €30 million to JSW Steel Italy for the transaction, the Indian company announced to the National Stock Exchange of India.
JSW Steel acquired the Piombino site from Algeria’s Cevital in 2018. JSW Steel Italia operates three rolling mills in Piombino that make rail, wire rod and bar products, and which rely on billet and bloom shipments from its parent company.
JSW had several times announced plans to resume steelmaking in Piombino, but these were never implemented.
According to Fastmarkets’ sources, the Italian government was seeking an agreement with JSW to develop rail production at Piombino.
This was confirmed by the recent statement from JSW Steel, which said that in March 2024 a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect was signed between JSW Steel Italy and the Italian authorities.
The document outlined several areas of cooperation, which included the implementation of JSW’s rail mill modernization project, setting up a hardening facility, and increasing the length of the rails being produced to as much as 120 meters.
JSW Steel added that its cooperation with the Italian authorities was intended to achieve “the revival of the industrial site of Piombino as a steel hub.”
Steelmaking decarbonization gains pace in Europe
More than 50 million tonnes of new green steelmaking capacity – using just EAFs or a combination of EAFs and DRI – was expected to come online in Europe in the period 2025-30, Fastmarkets has estimated.
Italian steel producers have joined the race to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2025, in line with those goals.
For example, DRI Italia, a wholly owned subsidiary of state-owned development agency Invitalia, was to build a DRI facility at the Taranto steelworks at Puglia in southeast Italy, using state funds.
The company said that the 2 million tpy DRI module would become operational by 2026. EAFs at the Taranto site were scheduled be built by 2026 as well.
In 2022, EAF-based flat steel producer Arvedi revealed plans to invest about €227 million in the “green” transformation of its steel plants at Trieste and Cremona.
In 2023, the company launched its own green steel brand, Arvzero
Published by: Julia Bolotova, Darina Kahramanova
European HRC prices edge higher in quiet market
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at €562.50 ($591.58) per tonne on Friday, up by €1.25 per tonne from €561.25 per tonne on November 21.
The index was stable week on week but up by €8.75 per tonne month on month.
Most suppliers in Northern Europe were offering coil for January-February delivery, with official offer prices consolidating around €600-620 per tonne ex-works, sources said, with bids coming in at €560-580 per tonne ex-works.
Market participants told Fastmarkets it hard to fix higher HRC prices in deals because of the persistently weak fundamentals, including deteriorating automotive demand and fierce competition between steel service centers with high inventories and cashflow needs.
And no major changes to the fundamentals or prices are expected until the end of the year, Fastmarkets understands.
Expectations for the first quarter of 2025 remain mixed, however.
Some sources said the recent toughening of trade defense measures – including a steel safeguard review and an anti-dumping investigation into HRC imports from Japan, Vietnam, India and Egypt – was likely to result in a stronger reliance on domestic supplies, which should support a recovery in domestic flat steel prices in Europe.
“The [HRC] market is still oversupplied, considering the fall in demand. It’s always about market balance,” a buyer in Germany said.
“The first quarter [of 2025] might be a bit early [for flat steel prices to recover],” he added, “but [later in the year] we will see better prices, in view of the decline in imports and reduced availability.”
At the same time, a real demand recovery was considered unlikely in the short term, so the chances of a strong price rebound were also low, sources said.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets calculated its steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, at €559.58 per tonne on Friday, down by only €0.42 per tonne from €560.00 per tonne on Thursday.
The Italian index was up by €3.58 per tonne week on week and by €11.45 per tonne month on month.
The market in Italy was also mostly quiet, however, with prices broadly flat despite the subdued trading.
“Mills can get good prices [for HRC]. But at the same time, prices have been almost flat for nearly a month. [It is a] standstill situation,” a buyer source said.
HRC with lead times in the first quarter of 2025 was on offer from local suppliers at €600 per tonne delivered, which would net back to €590 per tonne ex-works.
Some sources said that one local mill still had limited tonnages of December-delivery coil available at €580 per tonne delivered – equivalent to €570 per tonne ex-works – but this could not be confirmed at the time of publication.
And buyer estimates of the tradable price for HRC in Italy were heard at €560-580 per tonne delivered (€550-570 per tonne ex-works).
In the week to Friday, few import offers were available to the European market, and the few that were around were not considered workable by local buyers due to the small gap to domestic prices and the risks related to tougher trade measures being introduced in the EU, sources told Fastmarkets.
HRC was on offer from Taiwan and South Korea at €600-605 per tonne CFR Italy, while HRC from Indonesia was on offer to Italy at €555 per tonne CFR and one Turkish mill was offering HRC to Italy at €590 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty.
Italian buyers, however, estimated the tradable price for imports during the week to Friday as no higher than €530 per tonne CFR.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
German steel production rises again in October
Crude steel output at German mills in October saw a considerable increase over the corresponding 2023 month, by 15%, to 3.22 million tonnes, according to steel federation WV Stahl.
Notably, year-on year increases occurred at oxygen converter-route mills, by 13%, and electric arc furnace mills, by 19%.
In September, performance between the two remained divergent, with EAF mills’ output up by 26%, while oxygen mills produced 4% less year-on-year.
October production also increased month-on-month, as September’s production was slightly below 3mt, Kallanish notes.
Still, WV Stahl warns that volumes remain altogether low, this year as well as last. EAF mills, especially, kept production down last year due to peaking power prices.
In the year so far including October, crude steel production totalled 31.58mt, which is 5% above the first ten months of 2023.
Christian Koehl Germany
Stahl Gerlafingen suspends redundancy plans
Swiss steelmaker Stahl Gerlafingen is suspending the job cut plans it announced a month ago, as it is hoping for political measures to improve cost conditions.
The company said in October it plans to make another 120 employees redundant, after it had already axed a large number of jobs in spring, when it closed the production line for sections.
In coordination with owner Beltrame, Stahl Gerlafingen’s management will be awaiting the outcome of discussions at political level to alleviate costs. In the meantime, rebar maker Stahl Gerlafingen will instead introduce short working hours, and avoid layoffs, it says in a statement seen by Kallanish.
The mill’s chief, Alain Creteur, has thanked policymakers and administrative bodies for support, and says he hopes the measures will be approved. Such political measures “would somewhat cushion the distortion of the market by the EU”, the statement says, without explaining the EU’s alleged wrongdoings.
The measures under discussion include a temporary reduction of grid fees, an obligation for domestic construction projects to use domestic steel, and a recycling fee for steel. These measures could provide Stahl Gerlafingen with a perspective for the future, allowing Beltrame to hold on to the mill. Beltrame has invested CHF 450 million ($473m) in the mill’s efficiency improvement, and would be willing to continue re-investing future profits, the statement says.
Christian Koehl Germany
Liberty Dudelange unions call for urgent EU intervention
Unions at Liberty Steel’s Dudelange facility are urging the Luxembourg government and the European Commission to take immediate action to secure the site’s future, following delayed wage payments to employees.
The OGBL and LCGB unions have commenced legal proceedings to reclaim the outstanding amount. “The potential for bankruptcy is a significant concern and is further intensifying the existing uncertainties,” unions say in a note obtained by Kallanish. “Employee resentment is heightened by late payments, especially as the end-of-year holidays draw near. This situation, which has become increasingly frequent, is exacerbated with every deadline that is not met.”
“The Liberty Steel group, already compromised by financial controversies, appears unable to fulfil its obligations to its workforce, as well as to governmental bodies, financial institutions, and creditors with whom it has accumulated substantial debts totalling several million euros in Luxembourg. No definitive sales actions have been executed by Liberty,” unions add.
Liberty counters it is “taking decisive steps to address the challenges at Dudelange” and that discussions with a strategic investor have progressed significantly. “We remain optimistic about reaching a resolution soon,” says a Liberty spokesperson.
“Additionally, another potential buyer has already visited the Dudelange site, and we understand the government is already engaged in dialogue with them. We continue to fully cooperate with all stakeholders in a transparent manner to identify a sustainable path forward and secure a new shareholder who can support the company’s future,” the spokesperson adds.
The global steel industry is currently experiencing a prolonged downturn, with market conditions deteriorating to levels even more severe than those observed during the 2008 global financial crisis and 2015 steel market crisis, Liberty points out.
The situation has prompted Eurofer to urge the European Commission to prioritise the implementation of a comprehensive European Steel Action Plan to support the sector.
Liberty Steel intends to sell Italy-based Magona, its Belgian facility in Liege, and Dudelange in Luxembourg. In May, it initiated a strategic assessment of its downstream steel plants in western Europe in response to expressions of interest from multiple parties. The objective was either to establish partnerships through long-term HRC feedstock supply contracts or to divest the units.
The businesses have a combined rolling capacity of more than 2.5 million tonnes/year. Liège and Dudelange produce galvanised HRC, while also offering tinplate for packaging and black plate as a substrate for tinplate. Dudelange is also the sole European producer of Aluzinc. Magona has a long heritage and well respected pre-painted PPGI brand, with its own port access at the plant.
Natalia Capra France
French longs market remains stagnant
The French longs market remains stagnant amid stable pricing and a low volume of order intake across the value chain, Kallanish hears.
The fourth quarter is reflecting a lacklustre performance across all products, as the ongoing weakness in the local construction sector continues to impact steel.
Distributors and mills are experiencing challenges as customers are hesitant to commit to purchase volumes and although there is some modest end-year restocking, both sales volumes and margins are under pressure.
Rebar prices are holding steady in comparison to the end of October. Sellers indicate that current pricing is not a primary concern, emphasising that the key objective is to boost sales; however, there are no indications of a recovery in consumption.
Domestic rebar is pegged at €590-610/tonne ($621.60-642.7/t) delivered, based on volume and customer specifications.
Spanish-origin rebar prices in France are not impacting domestic sales. By contrast, some Italian steelmakers continue to be active in southern France, offering prices that are lower than those in the domestic market.
At present, domestic merchant bar prices also remain stable on-month, hovering at €240-250/t delivered. Including €420/t size extras, effective delivered levels are now at €660-670/t.
The prices for the first category of sections have stabilised month-over-month at approximately €760-770/t delivered.
However, projections indicate a potential increase of €20/t, as a major steel producer stopped sales and is anticipated to elevate its pricing levels, according to sources.
In the first quarter of 2025, multiple mills in Germany and France are scheduled to implement production stoppages for several weeks, aligning with rising energy prices in an attempt to achieve balance between demand and supply.
Many French companies across the steel value chain are currently experiencing financial challenges, leading to delays in payments.
ArcelorMittal’s French service centre division is undergoing a restructuring process, which may result in the closure of two service centres in the country. The Reims and Denain service centres, in northern France, are facing economic difficulties attributed to a downturn in the domestic steel sector.
ArcelorMittal Centres de Services management met with its service centre units last week to announce a project to reorganise the company and adapt its production capacities.
“In a difficult economic context, ArcelorMittal Centres de Services is facing a sharp drop in activity among its industry and automotive customers which has accelerated in recent months,” an ArcelorMittal spokesperson tells Kallanish (see Kallanish 22 November).
Natalia Capra France
Steelmakers should utilise all decarbonisation options: OECD webinar
Steelmakers are actively utilising all available options for decarbonisation, whilst balancing trade-offs in approaches and resource challenges, Kallanish heard from participants during a recent OECD webinar.
The organisation’s research shows there is disconnect between company ambition and implementation for decarbonisation, OECD head of steel decarbonisation Michele Rimini said during the “channelling market forces towards steel decarbonisation” webinar held by OECD at COP 29 last week.
But steelmaker panellists said they were seeking to balance the trade-offs they were facing between approaches.
Piljin Moon, carbon neutral strategy team lead at Posco, noted: “The major trade-off between the breakthrough technology and incremental steps in decarbonisation lies in the balance between risk and reward.”
“Although the breakthrough technology offers significant long-term gain and deeper CO2 reduction, it comes with higher risk and cost, [and] uncertainty in business feasibility. On the other hand, incremental steps are less risky, and more immediately applicable, but they may not achieve the substantial reduction for long-term climate goal,” he said.
“Since the development of the breakthrough technology doesn’t happen overnight, the company should adopt a dual approach, that means steelmakers should implement carbon strategy while simultaneously investing in initiative technology development,” he added.
Moon noted his company’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions at its current facilities, whilst also constructing a new EAF and developing the hydrogen steelmaking process to replace coal.
Hiroyuki Tezuka, executive manager of Climate Change Policy Group at JFE Steel Corporation, echoed this sentiment, noting its similarities with Posco.
JFE is seeking to utilise hydrogen in the reduction process, and improve its blast furnaces for incremental CO2 reduction, whilst also utilising a new generation EAF to increase use of scrap.
“We cannot throw away any options, we [don’t have that] luxury,” Tezuka added.
Each decarbonisation option also has its own challenges amid limited availability of scrap, affordable and abundant hydrogen, and high-grade iron ore.
“Use of more scrap in company A means reduced scrap availability for company B,” Tezuka said.
“Another issue is the availability of high-grade iron ore, accounting for only around 10% of global iron ore supply capacity. Once everyone chases after this hydrogen DRI route, high-grade iron ore will be very scarce and a precious … material,” he added.
Tezuka also noted how his firm’s recent joint venture with United Arab Emirates-based Emirates Steel to build a hydrogen-ready DRI plant would allow it access to materials and value chains such as natural gas and hydrogen. These parts of the value chain are not currently available in Japan at affordable prices. This would allow it to keep its steelmaking and finishing facilities operating in Japan.
Both steelmakers noted the high costs of producing green steel, which would need to be passed onto customers.
“Decarbonisation requires a balanced approach … CO2 reduction doesn’t come for free,” Moon said.
Tezuka mulled how steelmakers could create a market for green steel and convince customers to pay more for their usual quality grades of steel made using a “very complex production process”.
Putting a value on transitional green steel would help steelmakers recover their initial emission reduction investments.
Carrie Bone UK
Metinvest moves ahead with new green steel facility in Italy
The project was intended to promote the industrial revitalization of the town, located on the shores of Tuscany.
The new green steel plant will be based around an electric-arc-furnace (EAF) and will have capacity for 2.7 million tonnes per year of hot-rolled coil. The total investment was expected to reach €2.5 billion ($2.63 billion), Metinvest said.
“The plant will leverage technologies based on EAFs and recycled materials, including scrap, pig iron and direct-reduced iron [DRI] sourced from Ukraine,” Metinvest said in a statement seen by Fastmarkets.
According to Metinvest, Italian export credit agency SACE and other leading financial institutions in the country have officially expressed interest in providing financial support for the project.
Italian government grants were also expected to support the project.
The Italian port management authorities also confirmed the project’s alignment with their development plans, Metinvest said.
The joint declaration builds on already-signed agreements between all key stakeholders in the new green steel project – the Tuscany Region, the Municipality of Piombino, Italian equipment supplier Danieli, and Metinvest Adria.
An initial Memorandum of Intent was announced in January 2024, and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in April this year.
An additional Program Agreement was expected to be signed by the beginning of 2025, Fastmarkets understands. The document will define specific actions, including land remediation concessions, development contracts via Italy’s development agency Invitalia, employment protection measures, renewable energy initiatives, and improvements to the port infrastructure, Metinvest said.
“The project will help to strengthen the Italian steel industry and Ukraine’s mining operations, showcasing the potential of international cooperation in fostering sustainable industrial development,” Metinvest Group chief executive officer Yuriy Ryzhenkov said.
Complementing existing assets in Italy
The investment in the new green steel plant will also help Metinvest to complete the value chain of its metallurgical assets in Italy, and to reduce reliance on imported semi-finished products, Fastmarkets understands.
In Italy, Metinvest operates two rolling mills. Ferriera Valsider has two rolling lines for the production of heavy plate and hot-rolled coil. The heavy plate line has capacity for 400,000 tonnes per year while the HRC mill has capacity for 600,000 tpy. Trametal, meanwhile, is equipped with a heavy plate mill with capacity for 600,000 tpy.
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Metinvest used to feed Italian rolling mills with steel slab from its Ukrainian assets, supplying around 100,000 tonnes per month to its Italian mills, a source familiar with the matter told Fastmarkets.
After acquiring slab from Ukrainian assets became impossible due to Russia’s invasion, Metinvest and other Italian re-rollers had to look for alternative slab sources, and found them mainly in Asia.
Metinvest has been exploring opportunities to buy its own steelmaking facility in Europe since 2022.
Metinvest gains property rights at Piombino
This week, another agreement related to the construction of the new green steel plant came to light. JSW Steel Italy, a subsidiary of India’s JSW Steel and a current owner of the Piombino site, signed a commercial agreement with Metinvest Adria regarding the transfer of rights over part of the property.
Metinvest will have to pay €30 million to JSW Steel Italy for the transaction, the Indian company announced to the National Stock Exchange of India.
JSW Steel acquired the Piombino site from Algeria’s Cevital in 2018. JSW Steel Italia operates three rolling mills in Piombino that make rail, wire rod and bar products, and which rely on billet and bloom shipments from its parent company.
JSW had several times announced plans to resume steelmaking in Piombino, but these were never implemented.
According to Fastmarkets’ sources, the Italian government was seeking an agreement with JSW to develop rail production at Piombino.
This was confirmed by the recent statement from JSW Steel, which said that in March 2024 a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect was signed between JSW Steel Italy and the Italian authorities.
The document outlined several areas of cooperation, which included the implementation of JSW’s rail mill modernization project, setting up a hardening facility, and increasing the length of the rails being produced to as much as 120 meters.
JSW Steel added that its cooperation with the Italian authorities was intended to achieve “the revival of the industrial site of Piombino as a steel hub.”
Steelmaking decarbonization gains pace in Europe
More than 50 million tonnes of new green steelmaking capacity – using just EAFs or a combination of EAFs and DRI – was expected to come online in Europe in the period 2025-30, Fastmarkets has estimated.
Italian steel producers have joined the race to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2025, in line with those goals.
For example, DRI Italia, a wholly owned subsidiary of state-owned development agency Invitalia, was to build a DRI facility at the Taranto steelworks at Puglia in southeast Italy, using state funds.
The company said that the 2 million tpy DRI module would become operational by 2026. EAFs at the Taranto site were scheduled be built by 2026 as well.
In 2022, EAF-based flat steel producer Arvedi revealed plans to invest about €227 million in the “green” transformation of its steel plants at Trieste and Cremona.
In 2023, the company launched its own green steel brand, Arvzero
Published by: Julia Bolotova, Darina Kahramanova
European HRC prices edge higher in quiet market
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at €562.50 ($591.58) per tonne on Friday, up by €1.25 per tonne from €561.25 per tonne on November 21.
The index was stable week on week but up by €8.75 per tonne month on month.
Most suppliers in Northern Europe were offering coil for January-February delivery, with official offer prices consolidating around €600-620 per tonne ex-works, sources said, with bids coming in at €560-580 per tonne ex-works.
Market participants told Fastmarkets it hard to fix higher HRC prices in deals because of the persistently weak fundamentals, including deteriorating automotive demand and fierce competition between steel service centers with high inventories and cashflow needs.
And no major changes to the fundamentals or prices are expected until the end of the year, Fastmarkets understands.
Expectations for the first quarter of 2025 remain mixed, however.
Some sources said the recent toughening of trade defense measures – including a steel safeguard review and an anti-dumping investigation into HRC imports from Japan, Vietnam, India and Egypt – was likely to result in a stronger reliance on domestic supplies, which should support a recovery in domestic flat steel prices in Europe.
“The [HRC] market is still oversupplied, considering the fall in demand. It’s always about market balance,” a buyer in Germany said.
“The first quarter [of 2025] might be a bit early [for flat steel prices to recover],” he added, “but [later in the year] we will see better prices, in view of the decline in imports and reduced availability.”
At the same time, a real demand recovery was considered unlikely in the short term, so the chances of a strong price rebound were also low, sources said.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets calculated its steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, at €559.58 per tonne on Friday, down by only €0.42 per tonne from €560.00 per tonne on Thursday.
The Italian index was up by €3.58 per tonne week on week and by €11.45 per tonne month on month.
The market in Italy was also mostly quiet, however, with prices broadly flat despite the subdued trading.
“Mills can get good prices [for HRC]. But at the same time, prices have been almost flat for nearly a month. [It is a] standstill situation,” a buyer source said.
HRC with lead times in the first quarter of 2025 was on offer from local suppliers at €600 per tonne delivered, which would net back to €590 per tonne ex-works.
Some sources said that one local mill still had limited tonnages of December-delivery coil available at €580 per tonne delivered – equivalent to €570 per tonne ex-works – but this could not be confirmed at the time of publication.
And buyer estimates of the tradable price for HRC in Italy were heard at €560-580 per tonne delivered (€550-570 per tonne ex-works).
In the week to Friday, few import offers were available to the European market, and the few that were around were not considered workable by local buyers due to the small gap to domestic prices and the risks related to tougher trade measures being introduced in the EU, sources told Fastmarkets.
HRC was on offer from Taiwan and South Korea at €600-605 per tonne CFR Italy, while HRC from Indonesia was on offer to Italy at €555 per tonne CFR and one Turkish mill was offering HRC to Italy at €590 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty.
Italian buyers, however, estimated the tradable price for imports during the week to Friday as no higher than €530 per tonne CFR.
ArcelorMittal collab wins AI award for slab-yard optimisation
ArcelorMittal Global Research and Development, along with the AM/NS Calvert team won accolades for a project using artificial intelligence to optimise slab yard operations, Kallanish discovers from a company press release.
The Yard Optimisation Brain project collected operational data and utilised an AI machine-learning model to manage slab yard operations. By using the model with existing tracking systems, it was able to offer insights into business processes that contributed to millions in savings and record levels of production.
“ArcelorMittal R&D is entering its third decade of investing time and resources in the study and application of AI to improve operational processes and business decisions,” states Marta Garcia Barzana, R&D AI business portfolio director. “The Slab Yard Optimisation project serves as an excellent example of how close collaboration and the integration of our internal AI expertise with the Calvert team’s operational expertise is ushering us into a new AI-enabled era of increased efficiency and productivity.”
One of the project benefits is that it enables AM/NS Calvert to dynamically manage an inventory of more than 17,000 slabs distributed across five bays, whilst directing the operation of ten cranes.
The International Data Corp (IDC) Future Enterprise North America Awards recognise organisations that effectively operate and invest in digital business initiatives. ArcelorMittal was selected as the overall winner within the operations category.
The company will be able to apply the practices across global facilities in pursuit of operational excellence in steel manufacturing.
ArcelorMittal Global Research & Development is a team of approximately 1,500 researchers, engineers and technicians at 11 centres in Europe and North and South America.
Arcelor’s AM/NS Calvert is a 50/50 joint venture between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel Corp. It is an advanced finishing facility that complements the company’s portfolio of assets.
John Isaacson USA