An official opening ceremony for a new €49m furnace at ArcelorMittal Gent's hot strip mill was held on Friday in the presence of Belgian deputy prime minister, Kris Peeters and Glemish minister-president Geert Bourgeois.
The two politicians also spoke at the event, alongside presentations from Matthieu Jehl, CEO of ArcelorMittal Gent-Liège, and Reiner Blaschek, CMO of business division north, ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products. The ceremony was followed by a customer tour of the hot strip mill and quality-control departments to provide further insight into investment initiatives at the plant, which will be looking to produce next-generation steel products with the addition of the new walking beam furnace.
ArcelorMittal announced an additional €140m investment in future-proofing the plant with a view to developing it into a pilot site for Fortiform®, a range of high-strength steel products for cold-forming. The car parts produced are 10-20% lighter than those formed of alternative materials and alleviates CO2 emissions.
Photo by ArcelorMittal
