Japan's Nippon Steel Corp and Luxembourg-based mining and metals holding ArcelorMittal are investing $ 775 million to build a new electric arc furnace at their US joint venture in Alabama, with construction scheduled to begin in the first half of 2023, Nippon Steel reported on Tuesday. /p>
The new furnace to be built at the AM /NS Calvert (50-50) joint venture will have a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of steel per year.
Calvert currently produces steel sheets by processing semi-finished products or slabs purchased from local and foreign suppliers.
With the new furnace, Calvert will be able to independently produce some of the slabs needed to make steel sheet, which will shorten lead times and increase productivity, the largest steel producer in Japan said in a statement.
The new furnace will also produce slabs for automotive flat products, including high-strength steel sheets with improved performance.
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, announced in September that it would sell most of its US assets to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc, the largest US iron ore pellet producer, but retained its stake in AM /NS Calvert.
Two of the world's leading steel companies - ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation bought the Calvert plant in December 2013 from Germany's ThyssenKrupp Steel USA for $ 1.5 billion.
