ArcelorMittal and Siemens Energy partner on decarbonization
ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products, a subsidiary of Luxembourg-headquartered steelmaker ArcelorMittal, has announced that it is partnering with Germany-based Siemens Energy for high-grade steel solutions for energy transition infrastructure.
According to the statement, power demand is being driven by economic growth in Asia and the global south, and the explosion in data and AI is ramping up energy needs around the world.
“The steel characteristics we require are excellent magnetic permeability, strong thermal conductivity, very low energy losses, together with the availability of a wide range of coatings. ArcelorMittal is able to supply all the grades and coatings we need, and we know their R&D teams are constantly working on new solutions to make their electrical steels even more efficient.
The coming onstream of ArcelorMittal’s additional electrical steels production of 300,000 mt per annum, at Mardyck in France, will deliver the capacity and surety of supply to support Siemens Energy in its ongoing growth and development opportunities out of Erfurt,” Andreas Konschak, general manager at Siemens Energy, said.
ArcelorMittal steel removed from stranded ship
A chartered ship carrying steel for ArcelorMittal has now made it to its destination after running aground in the Humber Estuary at the start of the month, with the steel removed as part of a rescue operation, Kallanish learns.
H&S Wisdom become stuck en route to Gunness Wharf Port, near Scunthorpe on 2 March, with rescue crews at the time suggesting the ship may need to await until the next high tide at the end of the month to be refloated.
In recent days, ArcelorMittal has worked to remove the steel from the ship with cranes and pontoons. Following this, the ship refloated with the tide.
Ship tracking shows that the vessel has now been successfully docked at its intended destination as of late Saturday evening. It had departed from the Netherlands on 1 March.
Carrie Bone UK
US remains ArcelorMittal’s top market; Italy, UK grow
The US remained ArcelorMittal’s top sales market in 2024, while Poland moved up one place to fourth and Italy and the UK were among the few markets to see sales growth.
US sales slipped 5% on-year to $8.44 billion, while number two market Brazil saw sales fall 8% to $7.56 billion and third-largest destination Germany recorded a 12% decline to $5.76 billion, Kallanish notes from ArcelorMittal’s 2024 annual report.
Sales in Poland inched down 0.5% to $4.44 billion but still overtook France whose sales dropped 9% to $4.19 billion.
Of the rare growth areas, Italy sales rose 8% to $2.8 billion and UK sales by 9% to $1.46 billion.
In North America, ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s crude steel output was unchanged on-year in 2024 at 3.1 million tonnes, but ArcelorMittal Mexico production plummeted 34% to 2.5mt. In Brazil, Tubarão output was up 5% to 6.9mt and ArcelorMittal Pecém output surged 20% to 3mt, although this is partly because this figure is counted only from the point Pecém was acquired in March 2023.
In Europe, ArcelorMittal Bremen crude steel production rose 7% in 2024 to 3.1mt after the unit carried out blast furnace maintenance in 2023, which was also the case at ArcelorMittal Belgium whose output surged 21% to 5.2mt.
ArcelorMittal France saw output soar 23% to 4.8mt as its Dunkirk site was hit with a BF fire in 2023. ArcelorMittal Méditerrané output dropped 21% to 1.9mt as BF1 at Fos-sur-Mer remained idled throughout 2024. ArcelorMittal España output rose 13% to 3.6mt after BFA at Gijón was hit by a fire in 2023.
ArcelorMittal Poland meanwhile recorded a respectable 22% rebound in 2024 crude steel production to 3.8mt, following a very weak 2023. The rebound came despite the Krakow unit coke oven battery being permanently closed in July 2024, and coke oven battery 6 at the Zdzieszowice plant being closed in December 2024.
Adam Smith Poland
ArcelorMittal to idle Dunkirk BF for three months for major overhaul
The company plans to invest more than €270 million ($293 million) in its two primary steel production plants in France, at Dunkirk and Fos-sur-Mer, the company said in a statement seen by Fastmarkets.
The lion’s share of this investment, €254 million, will be at ArcelorMittal’s Dunkirk site. Major works will be carried out in the second quarter of 2025 on an iron ore sintering line, on blast furnace (BF) No4 and at one of the steel mill’s converters. During this time, BF4 will be idled for 90 days, but BF3 will remain operational.
There are three BFs at the Dunkirk site with combined capacity for about 6.9 million tonnes per year of pig iron. Only BFs Nos 3 and 4 have been operational recently, however. BF2, with capacity for 1.4 million tpy of pig iron, has been idled since June 2022, Fastmarkets understands. The site can produce 4.6 million tpy of hot-rolled coil.
“Logistics and supplies have been anticipated in order to limit the effect on downstream production facilities and to ensure continuity of service for customers,” the company statement read.
At ArcelorMittal’s Fos-sur-Mer site, the first phase of work on BF1 was about to get under way, the company said. The cost was estimated at €18.3 million to extend the life of this production unit. BF1 was scheduled for a restart no earlier than the first half of 2026. In the meantime, BF2 will remain operational.
BF1 at Fos-sur-Mer has been idled since the third quarter of 2023.
ArcelorMittal Fos-sur-Mer has two BFs with total capacity for about 5 million tpy of pig iron, market sources said. The site produces hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil.
The company gave no comment at the time of publication on the potential production losses that would result from the idling of the Dunkirk BFs.
Industry sources said that this unexpected move by a market leader would give an additional boost to hot-rolled coil prices in Europe.
“The HRC price rebound we see now is mainly driven by the circumstances around [trade] safeguard [measures] and restocking, not by real demand. News of such a major interruption at ArcelorMittal will probably push [flat steel] prices higher,” a buyer source said.
“There is no [HRC] shortage yet,” the same source added, “but if HRC import quotas are cut significantly under new [European Union] safeguards, and if Arcelor[Mittal] idles one big furnace in France, I’m sure the market will feel the effects.”
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at €631.88 per tonne on Monday, up by €0.50 per tonne from €631.38 per tonne on Friday.
The Northern European index was up by €3.96 per tonne week on week and by €33.13 per tonne month on month.
ArcelorMittal’s Belval revamp approaches completion
ArcelorMittal’s SteelUp! project at Belval in Luxembourg is advancing to phase two and approaching completion. The brownfield project involves the modernisation of the site by relocating the production of semi-finished products fed to the Rodange sections mill – to reduce emissions and increase productivity.
New workstation installations will be operational, followed by a commissioning phase by year-end, Kallanish notes.
The project comprises a digitised “no man on the floor” electric arc furnace with increased safety, a 15% energy consumption reduction, and 15% heavy sections productivity hike. A new vacuum degassing system will reduce dissolved gas. The works include a continuous casting transformation system for new high-carbon steel grades and heavier beam blanks.
The scrap baskets will be enlarged to fill the furnace in one operation, boosting steel melting capacity each cycle. The company has completed the strengthening of the continuous casting.
“This reinforcement will enable the facility to produce a wide range of profiles, from 320 kg/m to 915 kg/m – a capability that typically requires two separate continuous casting lines at other steel plants. Additionally, the automation phase is now beginning, with the arrival of new extractors scheduled for September 2025,” the firm says. The new vacuum degasser will be commissioned by mid-2025.
The project also involves a new 150m² platform with a 100-tonne hot briquetted iron supply system. The HBI, used to make Rodange’s semi-finished products, is stored and distributed in a silo near the scrap yard. “This allows the creation of new metallurgical grades previously only achievable with blast furnaces.”
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 new Belval EAF costs about €67 million ($72.4m), including €15m from state subsidies.
ArcelorMittal Luxembourg produced 1.9 million tonnes of crude steel in 2023 and employs 3,368 workers. The new Belval EAF will increase ArcelorMittal Luxembourg production to 2.5m t/y of steel.
ArcelorMittal is investing in decarbonisation, product quality and increasing capacity at its Luxembourg long products facilities in Differdange and Belval.
Natalia Capra France
ArcelorMittal halts steel output at Romanian Hunedoara mill on high energy costs
ArcelorMittal has paused production at its Hunedoara steelworks in Romania from Feb. 14 until March 30 due to high domestic energy costs, a company spokesperson told Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, on Feb. 17.
“The company has been facing economic challenges in maintaining the operations of its mill at Hunedoara, due to the unsustainable cost of electricity in Romania,“ the spokesperson said. “The current energy pricing structure has created a near-impossible environment for industrial activities, threatening not only the viability of such businesses but also potentially affecting the economic stability of the Hunedoara region.”
Romania’s spot electricity prices have ranked among the highest in Europe over the past 18 months. Furthermore, the tax on electricity in Romania, including distribution costs, stands at Lei 184/MWh ($38.72/MWh). “In addition, the contractual penalty imposed for non-use of electricity purchased has increased by more than three times in the past year,” ArcelorMittal said.
In December ArcelorMittal Hunedoara introduced partial production stoppages to reduce costs. Since then, production has been running intermittently, determined by daily energy prices. If prices peak, there is no production on that day, ArcelorMittal said in the note.
ArcelorMittal Hunedoara is also seeking the support of the Romanian government to address the issues affecting the site’s operations and its employees.
The Hunedoara site comprises a mini-mill with an electric arc furnace, a ladle furnace, one continuous caster and a section rolling mill. According to the latest report from ArcelorMittal, the company produced 200.000 mt of crude steel in 2023.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Northwest European domestic HRC at Eur600/mt ex-works Ruhr Feb. 14, unchanged day over day.
Northwestern Europe coil market stays slow
Coil buyers in northwestern Europe confirm that ArcelorMittal this month launched another attempt to increase coil prices, but they do not expect that they will cause a leap forward on the market.
Essentially, steelmakers are trying to bring the price for hot-rolled coil over the mark of €600/t ($628) ex-works. They do achieve it at times, Kallanish hears, but prices below that for transactions still occur in Germany and Benelux. Scandinavian prices tend to be clearly above that level.
ArcelorMittal now asks for €20-30/t more for delivery in the second quarter, nominally aiming towards €650/t. Similar moves are heard from other mills, with one German mill asking for even €50/t more, according to a trader who says he has not replied with a bid on that yet.
One Swiss-based trader says he does not see much potential for new prices to pass through, citing high stocks at service centres and some capacities reopening in Italy and eastern Europe.
“Our customers are very reserved with buying, which is frustrating for the mills as they cannot make long-term plans,” a French-based trader concurs.
A German buyer finds that prices are definitely strengthening, largely because of potential EU measures against imports. But still, “demand is not growing much, so price increases will not be dramatic,” he comments. “It remains to be seen how the mood on the market is developing, especially in Germany after the elections, and if measures against imports are successful. Then we might be able to tell if there is headroom for more price hikes – or if we fall back into a grey stagnation.”
Christian Koehl Germany
EU industry cautious over rebound, awaits policy rescue
Big European steel industry names have offered a glimmer of hope for the demand outlook in recent days, but tempered expectations for 2025, Kallanish notes. In any case, the industry’s health will depend heavily on anticipated European Commission measures.
ArcelorMittal said it expects higher apparent demand on-year in 2025 amid low inventory levels, especially in Europe. The group’s expectation of restocking throughout 2024 did not materialise, however. Chief executive Aditya Mittal also cautioned that EU measures to support industry will be critical this year. The European Commission is due to publish its Clean Industrial Deal later in February. A specific action plan for the steel industry is also eagerly being awaited.
European steelmakers’ association Eurofer said the Commission initiatives “will determine the future of the EU steel industry”.
ArcelorMittal’s European operations saw sales and Ebitda drop 5% and 18% respectively on-year in 2024 to $29.95 billion and $1.62 billion, despite a 4% rise in steel shipments to 28.66 million tonnes, driven by flat products.
Eurofer said EU apparent steel demand should recover 2.2% in 2025 but only provided the industrial outlook improves and global tensions ease. This is also down from its forecast in October of a 3.8% rebound this year. The firm steadily revised down its 2024 demand growth projection throughout last year.
Economic uncertainty will continue to take its toll in the coming quarters despite monetary easing by the European Central Bank, it added. Energy prices, weak manufacturing and geopolitical tensions continue to weigh on activity.
US Steel, which owns the major flat steelworks in Kosice, said it expects slightly improved results in Europe in the first quarter, but pressure will remain from challenging pricing and demand conditions.
Tata Steel, which owns the IJmuiden and Port Talbot steelworks, pointed out that despite the European Central Bank reducing interest rates significantly, concerns persist about inflation and energy costs in Europe.
Adam Smith Poland
Policies to accelerate steel decarbonization in Europe ‘critical’ in 2025: ArcelorMittal CEO
“Looking to the year ahead, while [steel] inventory levels are low and apparent demand is expected to improve, our industry continues to be characterized by global overcapacity, and we are supportive of policy to address this in our markets,” ArcelorMittal chief executive officer Aditya Mittal said in a Thursday press release accompanying the company’s fourth-quarter financial results.
“Further action is particularly necessary in Europe, which was impacted by increased imports in 2024, further adding to the pressures on European manufacturing. It is critical that we see progress in 2025 both in providing necessary emergency relief and creating a policy environment that incentivizes the investment required to accelerate decarbonization in Europe,” Mittal added.
In 2025, green steel growth is largely expected to be driven by stricter environmental regulations, increasing pressure from consumers and investors for sustainable products, and the EU’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality, Fastmarkets reported.
ArcelorMittal provided an update on its decarbonization plans in Europe last November, pointing out that the unfavorable economic situation in Europe and uncertainty around environmental policies slow the transition to green steelmaking.
As a result, the company’s decarbonization investments in Europe are progressing at a slower pace than initially envisioned, ArcelorMittal said.
ArcelorMittal has made significant progress in decarbonizing its operations and remains committed to its green steelmaking goals, the company said in the Thursday release.
For instance, since 2018, ArcelorMittal’s absolute emissions (Scope 1 and 2) have decreased by about 50%, primarily due to footprint and portfolio optimization of some of its most carbon-intensive capacities, the release said.
In addition, electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) comprise 25% of the company’s global production, up from 19% in 2018, ArcelorMittal chief executive officer Aditya Mittal said in the release.
Since 2018, the company has invested $1 billion in decarbonization projects globally. These projects include the decarbonization of steelmaking operations in Gijón and Sestao in Spain, as well as launching ArcelorMittal’s green steel brand XCarb for recycled and renewably produced low-carbon-emission steel.
XCarb sales increased from 0.2 million tonnes in 2023 to 0.4 million tonnes in 2024, the company said.
The market for steel with reduced carbon emissions is still evolving in Europe, and sources expect more uptake of “green steel” across supply chains once environmental regulations — such as the CBAM — are implemented.
ArcelorMittal’s current decarbonization investments are focused on ramping up production of high-quality low-carbon flat products in Sestao and the new EAF construction in Gijón.
Notably, by 2026, flat steel production is targeted to reach 1.6 million tonnes per year at the plant in Sestao, where ArcelorMittal runs two EAFs. After ramp-up is completed, much of Sestao’s portfolio will be XCarb-brand low-carbon-emission steel.
According to market sources, HRC from Sestao has a carbon footprint of 580 kg of CO2 per 1 tonne of steel under Scope 1, 2 and upstream Scope 3.
Fastmarkets’ latest weekly assessment of the green steel domestic, flat-rolled, differential to HRC index, exw Northern Europe was €100-200 per tonne on January 30, stable since December 12.
Fastmarkets’ methodology defines European green steel as “steel produced with Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions at a maximum of 0.8 tonne of CO2 per tonne of steel.”
Julia Bolotova in Brussels contributed to this report.
ArcelorMittal reduces shipments, expects elusive restocking in 2025
ArcelorMittal expects higher apparent demand on-year in 2025, with restocking activity to supplement real demand improvement amid low inventory levels, especially in Europe. This comes after the firm’s shipments and revenue dropped in 2024, despite improving in the fourth quarter, Kallanish notes.
The group expressed a similar expectation at the same time last year, but restocking ultimately failed to materialise in 2024 (see Kallanish passim).
Q4 steel shipments and crude steel production each rose 2% on-year to 13.5 million tonnes and 14mt respectively. Revenue grew 1% to $14.7 billion, while net loss narrowed 87% and Ebitda grew 14% to $390 million and $1.65 billion respectively.
Steel shipments in 2024 fell, but only by 2% on-year, to 54.3mt, with crude steel production flat at 57.9mt. Revenue fell 9% to $62.4 billion and Ebitda was down 19% to $7.05 billion. However, net income surged 46% to $1.34 billion. The previous year’s earnings were impacted by the disposal of the Kazakhstan operations and impairment of the firm’s investment in the Acciaierie d’Italia joint venture.
Despite the anticipated demand improvement, global overcapacity remains an issue. “Further action is particularly necessary in Europe, which was impacted by increased imports in 2024, further adding to the pressures on European manufacturing. It is critical that we see progress in 2025 both in providing necessary emergency relief and creating a policy environment that incentivises the investment required to accelerate decarbonisation in Europe,” says ArcelorMittal chief executive Aditya Mittal.
Although 2024 was beset by economic challenges, ArcelorMittal’s $130/tonne Ebitda was still higher than the five-year-average pre-Covid. The firm is focused on tapping demand in the Brazil, India and US markets. Electric arc furnaces now comprise 25% of its global production, up from 19% in 2018.
The company expects world ex-China apparent steel consumption to grow by 2.5-3.5% on-year in 2025, with Europe and US flat products consumption to rise 0-2% and 1-3% respectively.
Adam Smith Poland
