ArcelorMittal is spending €1.8 billion to help decarbonize French steel plants

On January 14, 2024, ArcelorMittal, together with the French government, announced a €1.8 billion investment plan to decarbonize the Dunkirk steel plant. After the official launch of the project, it is expected that French industrial carbon emissions will be significantly reduced by 6%. Dunkirk will use this huge investment to build two electric furnace plants and a direct reduction plant to replace the existing blast furnace equipment, thereby significantly reducing carbon emissions. The French government's contribution to this transformative project will amount to €850 million.

The Dunkirk plant in France, owned by ArcelorMittal, has three blast furnaces with an annual capacity of 7 million tonnes. In February 2022, ArcelorMittal announced the plant's switch from blast furnaces to a new production route as part of its €1.7 billion investment in French steel plants. The company plans to build an electric arc furnace (EAF) facility with an annual capacity of 45 million tons and a direct reduction furnace (DRI) facility with an annual capacity of 25 million tons in Dunkirk, which will be operational in 2027 and phase out the old facility by 2030.