ArcelorMittal denies accusations of industrial pollution at its Fos-sur-Mer site
The Marseille public prosecutor’s office indicted ArcelorMittal for endangering the lives of others, forgery, and environmental damage earlier this week, according to media reports.
The steelmaker has therefore been placed under judicial supervision, subject to a €250,000 ($268,525) deposit and €1.75 million bank guarantee, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement, quoted by French media outlets.
ArcelorMittal said in its statement that the company was cooperating fully with the authorities in charge of dealing with complaints filed by residents and environmental associations in relation to the Fos-sur-Mer site.
“ArcelorMittal has always been transparent in its contact with the authorities and has made every effort to ensure that the emissions from the Fos-sur-Mer site comply with the prescribed annual limit values. There was no falsification of data,” the steel manufacturer added.
According to its statement, ArcelorMittal has invested more than €735 million since 2014 to modernize its facilities and reduce emission levels. Thanks to these actions, the company has reduced its air emissions from the Fos-sur-Mer site by 70% compared to 2002.
ArcelorMittal said that it would not comment further on the indictment because the procedure was still ongoing, adding that the presumption of innocence and respect for the secrecy of the investigation should be considered.
The Fos-sur-Mer site has been facing problems with environmental organizations and residents since 2018, when a complaint against the plan was filed, according to media outlets.
ArcelorMittal Fos-sur-Mer has two blast furnaces (BFs) with a total capacity for about 5 million tonnes per year of pig iron, market sources said. The site produces hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil.
ArcelorMittal modernizes its French assets
Earlier in March, ArcelorMittal announced that it planned further modernization of its two production plants in France – Dunkirk and Fos-sur-Mer. Due to the overhaul, one of the BFs at the Dunkirk site will be idled for 90 days in the second quarter of 2025.
Specifically for the Fos-sur-Mer site, the company is planning investment amounting to €18.3 million, which is intended to extend the life of BF1. But the production unit will restart operations no earlier than the first half of 2026, Fastmarkets understands. While BF2 will remain operational.
BF1 at Fos-sur-Mer has been idled since the third quarter of 2023.
Market overview
The stoppage of one BF at the Dunkirk site was expected to put additional pressure on the HRC prices in Europe, industry sources told Fastmarkets.
Supply of domestic material in the region has already been limited by Salzgitter, who announced force majeure on HRC deliveries due to a fire at a hot strip mill late in February.
These circumstances, combined with the limited HRC imports due to the new safeguard measures of the European Commission, have supported a recovery in HRC prices in Northern Europe, industry sources told Fastmarkets.
“Production in Europe is at a quite low level now. There are a lot of problems with domestic mills. Customers often complain about delays with deliveries,” a distributor source based in Germany told Fastmarkets.
The distributor source added that mills were quite firm on their offers, advising customers to go to another mill if they did not like the offered price. “But there are not many other options where to go,” the source said.
Despite some small fluctuations, HRC prices in Northern Europe have been recovering gradually since the beginning of the year, reaching €645.00 per tonne on Wednesday, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe, shows.
But the index averaged €608.04 per tonne in February remaining far below €738.28 per tonne – the average level reached in February 2024.
Fastmarkets’ sources expected that the recovery of the HRC prices would continue, although some were skeptical if the €700-per-tonne level would be reached.
Developer GravitHy closes Eur60 mil funding round for French ‘green’ steel plant
Hydrogen-based, direct-reduced iron project developer GravitHy has closed a Eur60 million funding round for its French “green” steel plant at Fos-Sur-Mer, the company said March 26, adding that it is targeting a final investment decision on the project in 2026.
The 2 million mt/year hot briquetted iron plant in Fos-Sur-Mer in the south of the country is set to start commercial production in 2029, after a commissioning phase and progressive pre-commercial ramp-up. The project has an overall estimated price tag of Eur2.2 billion.
GravitHy is also building an electrolyzer at the site, with a capacity of approximately 750 MW, to produce low-carbon hydrogen for the plant.
The latest funding round — which brought in a series of new investors, as well as additional investment from existing shareholders Engie New Ventures and InnoEnergy — will help the company to secure key contracts, as well as completing engineering work and obtaining permits, the company said.
“We are thrilled by the confidence our diverse investors have shown in GravitHy,” Chief Executive Jose Noldin said. “Collaboration is key to disrupting the steel value chain, and we are proud to welcome these incredible partners who share our vision, values, and development goals.”
The steel industry contributes around 8% of global carbon emissions and requires new technology, redesigned processes, and new infrastructure to decarbonize, industry sources say.
Platts assessed Northwest European hot-rolled coil at Eur700/mt ex-works Ruhr on March 25, down Eur5/mt on the day.
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.
Marcegaglia to invest in slab caster, coil mill
Italian steel producer Marcegaglia will take over French specialty steelmaker Ascometal, including its Fos-sur-Mer plant, where it will invest €600mn ($652mn) to expand an electric arc furnace (EAF), and build a slab caster and hot-rolling mill.
A ruling today by the Strasbourg judicial court officiated Marcegaglia as the buyer of the troubled steelmaker, which was undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.
Marcegaglia plans to increase the output of the EAF to 1mn-1.2mn t/yr. A hot-rolled coil plant will be built with a capacity of 1.6mn-2mn t/yr, which will be supplied by a new continuous slab caster, to replace existing ingot production.
The site will then meet 30pc of Marcegaglia’s steel requirements.
“This important acquisition is part of the group’s global strategy, with the aim of integrating the entire value chain into our production. The grand port of Marseille is located in a strategic position in terms of raw materials and logistics,” company owners Antonio and Emma Marcegaglia said.
This is a key acquisition and expansion for the Italian re-roller, especially in the context of the European Commission’s proposal this week to further restrict imports of hot-rolled coils (HRC) – of which Marcegaglia is the biggest buyer in Europe. The EC plans to introduce a 15pc limit to each importing country’s access to the “other countries” HRC quota.
