The Italian company Marcegaglia, headquartered in Italy, has signed a 450 million euro equipment supply agreement with the Danieli steel mill for a new steel and flat products production in Fos-sur-Mer, France, as the Italian steel company seeks to ensure the supply of raw materials and reduce carbon dioxide emissions through scrap—based production.
The Mistral project, with a total capital cost of about 1 billion euros, will produce more than 2 million metric tons of liquid steel per year and up to 3 million tons of hot-rolled stainless and carbon steel coils per year after commissioning, the companies announced on April 14. This facility will cover about 35% of the Marcegaglia Group's total needs in rolls and slabs, mainly for the company's processing plants in Italy.
The investment represents Marcegaglia's largest project to integrate into the extractive industry and reflects the growing pressure on European steel producers to reduce emissions while maintaining competitive supply chains. According to the companies, the plant will use scrap metal, low-carbon hot-rolled cast iron, as well as nuclear and renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% compared to traditional blast furnace steelmaking methods.
The company will install an electric arc furnace with the latest generation technology, a single-thread continuous casting machine for thick slabs and a conventional hot rolling mill designed for processing various feed mixtures from a wide range of flat steel grades. A final investment decision is expected by the end of 2026, after the completion of the permitting processes and negotiations with French institutions, which, according to the companies, are at an advanced stage.
On April 15, the Platts agency, part of S&P Global Energy, estimated the production of hot—rolled carbon coils in Northwestern Europe at the Ruhr plant at 775 euros per ton, which is stable from day to day.
Author: Annalisa Villa
