Arcelor, France Plan to Invest €1.8 Billion to Cut Emissions

(Bloomberg) -- ArcelorMittal SA and the French state will invest €1.8 billion ($2 billion) to reduce the carbon generated by the company’s steel plant in Dunkirk, cutting the country’s industrial emissions by 6%.

The money will finance two electric furnaces and a direct reduction plant at the site, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said at a briefing Sunday with journalists. The French state’s contribution could be as much as €850 million.

“This is a major victory for France,” Le Maire said, both in terms of reducing carbon emissions and in economic terms, since France won out over Belgium, Germany and Spain to get a major investment in decarbonization by ArcelorMittal.

ArcelorMittal will sign a letter of intent with Electricite de France SA for a long-term supply contract of nuclear power, Le Maire said.

France and ArcelorMittal had already announced the broad outlines of the effort. Le Maire will travel Monday to EDF’s nuclear plant in Gravelines, in the north of France, and the nearby Dunkirk steel factory to promote the investment. EDF plans to build two additional reactors at the Gravelines site.

Le Maire was re-appointed to his post last week in a cabinet shuffle by President Emmanuel Macron, with a portfolio that’s expanded to include energy. 

(Updates to add finance minister comment in third paragaph.)

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