ArcelorMittal To Invest EUR 1 Bln In Decarbonization Technologies In Gijón - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Steel and mining giant ArcelorMittal (MT) announced Tuesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Spanish Government that will see a 1 billion euro investment in decarbonization technologies at ArcelorMittal Asturias' plant in Gijón.

The investments will reduce CO2 emissions at ArcelorMittal's Spanish operations by up to 4.8 million tonnes, which represents approximately 50% of emissions, within the next five years.

At the heart of the plan is a 2.3 million-tonne green hydrogen direct reduced iron (DRI) unit, complemented by a 1.1 million-tonne hybrid electric arc furnace (EAF).

This starts the transition of the Gijón plant away from the blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace steelmaking production route to the DRI-EAF production route, which carries a significantly lower carbon footprint.

The Gijón DRI will also feed the company's Sestao plant, situated approximately 250km from Gijón, where production is already entirely from the electric arc furnace route.

This means that by 2025 ArcelorMittal Sestao will produce 1.6 million tonnes of steel and be the world's first full-scale steel plant to achieve zero carbon-emissions.

ArcelorMittal Europe has a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030, and an ambition to be net-zero by 2050.

The investment will also further intensify its R&D capabilities in Spain to support the new project and innovation requirements.

The MoU states the commitment of ArcelorMittal and the Government of Spain to transition towards a decarbonized steel industry.

Given the significant cost associated with the transition, in terms of both capex and opex, it is ArcelorMittal's expectation this support will cover at least half of the additional cost to enable its operations to remain competitive as it accelerates its decarbonisation program.