Marcegaglia acquires French EAF site

The Italy-based Marcegaglia Group reports that a French regional tribunal has approved its bid to purchase a currently idled electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mill near Marseille, France.

The purchase of the former Ascometal mill in Fos-sur-Mer, currently in receivership, has been approved by the Chamber of Commerce of the Strasbourg Judicial Tribunal in southern France.

The Italian metals company says it will hire all Ascometal employees who were working at the mill when it was idled and will invest $650 million into the newly named Marcegaglia Fos-sur-Mer facility.

“This project will result in a significant increase in electric furnace production up to 1 to 1.2 million tons of steel, to which will be added a continuous slab caster (instead of the current ingots) and a state-of-the-art hot rolling coil mill, for a total production capacity between 1.6 and 2 million tons,” Marcegalia says.

Upon completion of the transformation, the Fos-sur-Mer site will meet about 30 percent of the Marcegaglia Group's steel requirements for the steel tubes and other products it makes “and will use efficient and sustainable production methods,” according to the company.

“This important acquisition is part of the group’s global strategy, with the aim of integrating the entire value chain into our production,” Antonio and Emma Marcegaglia say. “In addition, the Grand Port in Marseille is strategically located in terms of raw materials and logistics.”

Regarding raw materials for the EAF mill, the Marcegaglias refer to steel produced from scrap and from "green DRI” as part of the firm’s broader strategy of development and decarbonization. That strategy involves reducing the company’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent compared with the prior production cycle.

At the start of 2023, Marcegaglia Group acquired an EAF mill in Sheffield, United Kingdom, that makes stainless alloyed steels, the first primary production asset in the group’s history.

“The significant industrial transformation project and the innovative technologies used will make the Fos-sur-Mer site one of our group’s most relevant assets,” the company says of its latest purchase.