The Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Mr. Franz Fayot, Minister of the Economy, discover the future investments of ArcelorMittal Differdange

The delegation, also made up of Madame Christiane Brassel-Rauch, mayor of the city of Differdange as well as Tom Ulveling, first alderman in Differdange, was able to attend a presentation on the situation of ArcelorMittal in Luxembourg. This meeting also provided an opportunity to review the Lux2025 plan, result of the tripartite agreement signed at the start of the year.

Recognition of an exceptional Luxembourg based industry

ArcelorMittal Differdange is the world reference of steel beams for construction, such as Jumbo, Histar and more recently Histar Russia, plebiscited for extraordinary structures. Thanks to the mechanical performance of Differdange products, the site enjoys a flawless reputation and great confidence among the project owners. Mr. Thomas Georges, director of the plant, highlighted the quality of these products which can be found in the One World Trade Center, the Lakhta Tower in Saint Petersburg or the future Mohammed VI Tower under construction in Rabat. ArcelorMittal Differdange’s reputation generates the activity necessary to operate the site despite the difficult situation facing the Luxembourg steel industry. It is to maintain this quality, and therefore the orders, that the site invests in state-of-the-art infrastructure.

The largest roller straightener

ArcelorMittal Differdange’s latest major investment is a roller straightener designed specifically to receive and straighten non-standard beams from our Luxembourg sites, making it the largest ever. This was part of the total renovation of the finishing line, started in 2018 and completed last year at a total cost of 40 million euros.

Lux2025 in progress

As part of the series of investments to improve the competitiveness of ArcelorMittal sites in Luxembourg, Thomas Georges presented the implementation of a new thermomechanical steel treatment process (grade 80) to improve the elasticity of beams and their welding property. This new process, which represents an investment of 8.5 million euros, will be used in the manufacture of Histar beams.

Further improvements are planned for 2021, aimed in particular at reducing surface defects on semi-finished products and beams, for better overall quality of our ranges.

In this period of health crisis, the visit of HRH the Hereditary Grand Duke and the Minister of the Economy is a great encouragement for ArcelorMittal employees who commit themselves every day to serving our customers around the world. Our innovative products, always more respectful of the environment and integrated into prestigious projects, allow the Grand Duchy to shine well beyond its borders.
Roland Bastian, General manager of ArcelorMittal in Luxembourg