(Dunkirk) The steel giant ArcelorMittal has indicated that it will begin “mid-2023” the construction of a new unit on its Mardyck site which will produce, from 2025, 200,000 tonnes per year of steel intended for the production motors for electric cars.
This unit will employ 100 additional people on the site where half a thousand people already work.
This investment of 300 million euros ($440 million) is “the largest” on the site “since its creation”, according to the director of electrical activities for ArcelorMittal France, Hugues Baudin.
The project was announced a year ago, before the opening of a public inquiry, which ended on May 12.
With this unit, ArcelorMittal will triple its production capacity in Europe for this steel, qualified as electrical due to its strong magnetic properties due to the presence of silicon. It makes it possible to build the parts of the electric motors which transform electricity into movement.
Used for a long time in household appliances or wind turbines, this steel is increasingly in demand due to the rapid development of electric vehicles, with the ban on heat engines from 2035 in the European Union.
The new unit, called Electryck, will be located close to car manufacturers Stellantis and Renault Electricity.
It aims to “meet the needs” of this automotive market, ArcelorMittal said during a presentation to the press, following the public inquiry.
“By 2024 or 2025, Europe will be under-capacitated in the production of electrical steel,” the company estimates.
This five-line unit, whose elements are fully connected, will be piloted from unique digital cockpits, made up of touch screens bringing together multiple information on the production process.
It will be supplied with steel by the nearby ArcelorMittal steelworks in Dunkirk.
A sign that the “Battery Valley” is continuing to set up in northern France, the Taiwanese group ProLogium confirmed last week the installation in Dunkirk of a fourth battery factory for electric vehicles in France.
Also in Dunkirk, the Chinese XTC is to build with the French Orano a battery component and recycling plant for 1.5 billion euros.