Steel Mills

ArcelorMittal Dofasco Breaks Ground on $1.8 Billion DRI-EAF Project
Written by David Schollaert
October 14, 2022
ArcelorMittal has broken ground on its $1.8 billion CAD ($1.3 billion USD) project to decrease the carbon intensity of its steelmaking. The ground-breaking ceremony comes just about a year after the Hamilton, Ontario-based steelmaker announced the initial federal subsidy granted for the investment.
ArcelorMittal Dofasco, a subsidiary of multinational ArcelorMittal SA, is working towards decreasing its greenhouse gas emissions by replacing its coal-fed coke ovens and blast furnaces with a hydrogen-enabled electric arc furnace (EAF) and direct-reduced iron (DRI) technology.
The project was supported by contributions of $400 million CAD from Canada’s federal government and by $500 million from the Ontario provincial government. The investment plays an important role in ArcelorMittal’s target to reduce its steelmaking carbon intensity by 25% by 2030.
The new 2.5-million-ton capacity DRI furnace will initially operate on natural gas but will be constructed “hydrogen ready” so it can be transitioned to utilize green hydrogen when it becomes available, the steelmaker said. It is also expected to be the largest single-module direct reduction plant in Canada.
In attendance for the Oct. 13 event were ArcelorMittal Dofasco president and CEO Ron Bedard, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and ArcelorMittal Executive Chairman Lakshmi Mittal.
“By investing in ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s project to produce clean steel, we’re investing in the future of this plant and this industry,” said Prime Minister Trudeau.
“Today is a historic moment for our company. This is the first full-scale decarbonization project we have broken ground on since announcing our commitment to achieve net zero by 2050 and reduce carbon emissions intensity by 25% by 2030,” Mittal said.
ENERGIRON, the direct reduction technology jointly developed by Tenova S.p.A. and Danieli & C. S.p.A., has been chosen for the DRI project, the steelmaker said.
Onsite construction work will begin in January, with the demolition of the decommissioned No.1 coke plant planned to make room for the new DRI plant. Foundation work is set to start in 2024, and project completion is expected by 2026. The transition phase will begin with both steelmaking streams (BF-BOF and DRI-EAF) active. The transition is expected to be completed by 2028.
“This project provides us with a tremendous opportunity to transition ArcelorMittal Dofasco into one of the world’s cleanest, lowest carbon and modern steel manufacturers,” Bedard said. “While it involves installing new technology and equipment, the investment is really about people and the planet.”
The project also includes a 2.4-million-ton EAF to feed Dofasco’s existing casting, rolling, and finishing facilities. “Modification of ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s existing EAF facility and continuous casters will also be undertaken to align productivity, quality and energy capabilities between all assets in the new footprint,” the company said.
Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal has so far invested $5.6 billion in four such projects. The others are in Spain, Belgium, and France.
By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

David Schollaert
Read more from David SchollaertLatest in Steel Mills

Trump says Nippon will ‘invest heavily’ in USS rather than buy it
Nippon Steel has agreed to “invest heavily in U.S. Steel as opposed to own it,” President Donald Trump said on Friday during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. U.S. Steel is “a very important company” and was once “the greatest company in the world”. Of potential foreign ownership of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker, Trump said, “the concept, psychologically, not good."

ArcelorMittal posts solid results as commissioning of Calvert EAF begins
AM/NS Calvert has begun commissioning its new electric-arc furnace, with plans to reach its full annual run rate of 1.65 million short tons a year from now.

Tampa Steel Conference: Tanners on rising capacities and storms brewing across steel
There's a lot of production waiting to come online

USS idles “B” battery at Clairton following explosion
U.S. Steel has idled its "B" Battery at its Clairton Coke Works near Pittsburgh following a “release of excess pressure” inside a section of the battery on Feb. 5.

ArcelorMittal to start building Calvert NGO electrical steel line this year
ArcelorMittal announced on Thursday that it will begin the construction of its new $1.2-billion electrical steel mill in Alabama later this year. The steelmaker said it is proceeding with plans to build the new greenfield mill near its existing AM/NS joint venture in Calvert, Ala. The ArcelorMittal Calvert plant will have an annealing pickling line, […]