ArcelorMittal and the EIB announce €280m of funding for research and innovation supporting the steel company’s decarbonisation objectives

• Key funding will allow significant expansion ArcelorMittal’s Research and Development activities on decarbonisation
• A project covering capital expenditure in several EU countries: France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain.
• The loan is backed by a guarantee from the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the main pillar of the European Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe.

The €280m loan granted to ArcelorMittal by the European Investment Bank (EIB) backed by the Investment Plan for Europe will help to fund the group’s European research and development programme over the period 2021-2023.

This major funding initiative aims at supporting ArcelorMittal’s research activities and the associated capital expenditure in the field of environmental, climate and energy projects. It will help the group to reach its ambitious climate action goals and thus to reduce the environmental footprint of its manufacturing facilities, steel products and technological solutions. ArcelorMittal Europe has committed to reduce CO₂ emissions intensity by 35% by 2030, with the ArcelorMittal group having set a 2050 net-zero emissions target.

This partnership between the EIB and ArcelorMittal is backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.  In general, at least 40% of EFSI infrastructure and innovation projects aim to contribute to climate action in line with the Paris Agreement. This project will also contribute to EU industry’s leadership as provider of high-tech steel grades, products and solutions.

New products, process improvements and technical solutions are expected to bring significant positive environmental results, in terms of direct and indirect greenhouse gases emission reduction.

The research and development activities supported through the new investment will be carried out primarily in ArcelorMittal’s existing R&D facilities in France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain.

Greg Ludkovsky

Vice-President of ArcelorMittal and Head of Research and Development

The role of our organisation, Global R&D, is to create the technological basis for ensuring ArcelorMittal’s long-term viability as the world’s leading steel and mining company. This funding will help Global R&D to further enable ArcelorMittal’s ambitions to reduce its environmental footprint in terms of its operations and its products. We will be able to expand our work to develop environmentally sustainable, high-added value, cost-effective and disruptive products and manufacturing processes.

Ambroise Fayolle

EIB vice-president

The signing of this agreement between the European public bank and ArcelorMittal will support a major European player in the steel industry with a deep focus on higher value-added steel products. These investments will play a key role in ArcelorMittal’s carbon footprint reduction strategy and therefore contribute to the European green deal, aligned with the terms of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

Kris Peeters

Vice-President of the EIB

I very much welcome this financing agreement which will support the innovation efforts of ArcelorMittal in the EU. I like the idea that the research will be carried out in several Member States, in a true European spirit. The steel sector is a vital sector for the European economy. As no other sector the steel sector is faced with the need to constantly reinvent itself and make its production processes more efficient and less burdensome vis-à-vis the environment. This requires a constant investment in innovation. I trust that through our support we help ArcelorMittal in its operations, help increasing the competitiveness of the company and thereby contribute to the EU’s leadership as provider of high-tech steel worldwide.

Paolo Gentiloni

European Commissioner for the Economy

Thanks to a guarantee from the Investment Plan for Europe, ArcelorMittal will invest €280 million into research and development activities to meet its climate goals and reduce the environmental footprint of its manufacturing facilities. This agreement shows that innovation is key to companies’ efforts to contribute to Europe’s climate commitments while staying competitive. I am looking forward to seeing many other companies follow suit.

In 2017, the ArcelorMittal Group and the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a financing agreement for €350m, supported by the Investment Plan for Europe, to help to fund the Group’s European research and development programme over the period 2017-2020.

In 2020, the EIB granted a €75m loan to ArcelorMittal supported by InnovFin Energy Demonstration projects and financed under Horizon 2020 and the NER 300 funding programme of the European Commission.

The funding supported the ArcelorMittal Group’s research and development activities and associated capital expenditure, in various fields:

• Innovative casting technologies
• Circular economy and CO2 reduction
• Alternative coatings to replace Chromium 6
• New rolling technologies for energy reduction
• Blast furnace decarbonisation
• Additive manufacturing for steel applications
• Development of innovative high strength steels for automotive
• Development of low loss electrical steel to improve engines’ energy retention
• Substrates and coatings for global energy transition applications (solar, windmills etc.)