Following the announcement of layoffs, ArcelorMittal says it wants to relaunch its low-carbon steel project in Dunkirk

After the shock of the announcement of nearly 600 job cuts , after-sales service to make the pill go down: the steel giant ArcelorMittal announced this Thursday, May 15, that it was finally ready to relaunch a huge investment project in France. The steelmaker indicated in a press release its "intention" to resume its plan presented in 2022, suspended since November , to produce low-carbon steel in Dunkirk... but on condition that Brussels implements its steel protection measures European.

A firm and definitive decision will have to wait "until the summer," according to the president of ArcelorMittal. France, Alain Le Grix de la Salle. If the conditions are right, the group plans to invest €1.2 billion in its Dunkirk site to install its first electric arc furnace, enabling steel casting without the carbon emissions of coke-fired blast furnaces. A project long championed by unions , who believe that without it, the Dunkirk site is destined to close.

According to Ici Nord radio, work could begin at the end of the year or early 2026, with the electric furnace expected to start up at the end of 2028. According to ArcelorMittal, this new industrial facility will reduce CO2 emissions at the Dunkirk site by 20%. The furnace is expected to be able to produce two million tonnes of steel per year.

Bercy welcomed this announcement, stating that it "constitutes a strong signal of ArcelorMittal's commitment to France and provides future prospects for the French and European steel industry, which has been particularly shaken by the current crisis." "The work undertaken by the French government, and particularly the Ministry of Industry and Energy, alongside its European counterparts over the past several months, has helped restore confidence in our European capacity to defend the interests of our industry, our sovereignty and our jobs," the Ministry of Industry said.

His minister, Marc Ferracci, underlines "the efforts undertaken at European level and the constant dialogue with ArcelorMittal", adding that he continues "the fight to defend this sector with our European partners and Commissioner [Stéphane] Séjourné."

The Steel Plan , adopted by the European Commission in March, is said to have convinced the Luxembourg-based multinational to continue investing in France, regardless of the announced layoffs. The announcement by EDF of the construction of a pair of EPR reactors at the Gravelines plant (Hauts-de-France), near Dunkirk, is also not unrelated to ArcelorMittal's about-face, which will be able to rely on abundant nuclear electricity at a negotiated price to power its new intensive electric furnace. "Despite the crisis situation, the context has changed, and today, we are relatively confident that these measures will be implemented in the coming weeks," assured Bruno Ribo, president of ArcelorMittal France Nord, to the local station Radio France.

The group, which has been hit hard by the sector's crisis in Europe, had repeatedly called for the "rapid" implementation of the European steel plan before reconsidering investments in decarbonization in Europe, particularly in Dunkirk. It now believes that Brussels is moving "in the right direction."

This plan aims to support production and protect steel trade in Europe by, for example, limiting extra-EU imports or taxing them based on their carbon footprint. During a press briefing, the president of ArcelorMittal France stated that "these measures will allow us to restore fair competition in the European steel market and therefore play on a level playing field," estimating that they "should be in place soon, in the coming months, after the summer."

European steel is caught between falling consumption on the Old Continent, competition that some consider unfair from low-cost steel, particularly from China, high energy prices in Europe and, now, new customs duties imposed by the United States .

ArcelorMittal, however, is maintaining its plan to cut 636 jobs in the North. "These are two separate issues. The current job cuts are intended to make the Dunkirk sites more competitive. And now we're talking about and confirming our intention [to invest] to provide visibility, because we're much more confident than we were two or three months ago," said Alain Le Grix de la Salle.

Updated: 6:10 p.m. with response from the Ministry of Industry.