ArcelorMittal recommits to French EAF investment

Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal has issued a statement confirming its intention to invest $1.34 billion (1.2 billion euros) in Dunkirk, France, to install an electric arc furnace (EAF) production line.

The company says it has been working closely with the French government, whose leadership has been "key in the defense of the steel industry in France and Europe."

The announcement follows one made last November in which ArcelorMittal decided to pause some investments in Europe to convert blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace (BOF) mills to scrap and direct-reduced iron (DRI)-fed EAF mills.

“It is now well-understood that the European steel industry is facing its worst crisis since the financial crisis in 2009," ArcelorMittal says in its most recent statement. "This has led ArcelorMittal to delay its European decarbonization projects. However, the European Commission’s Steel and Metal Action Plan, announced in March 2025, provides optimism that the European Commission will implement efficient trade defense and Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAMs) soon.”

The steelmaker says such new measures are a first step in the right direction.

“The European steel industry now requires effective limitation of imports at 15 percent of market demand as well as an effective CBAM that notably prevents resource shuffling," ArcelorMittal adds. "That would restore a level playing field on the European steel market.”

The steelmaker now expects all the conditions will be in place soon after the summer to be able to relaunch its decarbonization plan and, as such, confirms its intention to invest in an EAF in Dunkirk.

ArcelorMittal says its investments in Fos-sur-Mer and Mardyck, France, also remain on track.