ArcelorMittal To Create 124 Jobs, Invest EUR30 Million in France
Monday April 7th, 2008 / 18h29
Edited Press Release PARIS -(Dow Jones)- ArcelorMittal (MT) Monday said it will invest at EUR30 million at its Gandrange site in the Lorraine region of France. ArcelorMittal intends to develop a number of downstream facilities on the site to complement its rolling mill activities and ensure the sustainability of its operations in the region. These investments will require a total investment of EUR30 million and will create 124 new FTE. ArcelorMittal is also considering setting up a new Technical Education Centre for the Lorraine region. Over the next ten years, approximately one third of its industrial workforce in France will retire. The existing system is unlikely to deliver enough qualified people to fill these roles. The Technical Education Centre will require a EUR5 million initial investment, to provide the facilities and technical equipment necessary for the education of up to 120 students. ArcelorMittal will also continue to look for other opportunities to expand its activities in Gandrange. ArcelorMittal also said Monday that, provided the right economic and regulatory conditions prevail, including the issue of relevant emissions quotas, it intends to maintain blast furnace operations at its Florange facility beyond 2012. As part of the previous "Apollo" plan launched by Arcelor in 2003 the hot steel-making facilities at Florange were due to be closed in 2010/11 affecting over 1000 employees. Following the merger to form ArcelorMittal, the decision was taken to maintain the hot-phase until 2012. ArcelorMittal also said Monday that it intends to carry out a feasibility study at its Florange site to ascertain its suitability of the site for implementing a CO2 carbon capture and storage prototype project. ArcelorMittal is also investigating the potential to co-operate with Poweo (ALPWO.FR) for the construction of new power plants in the Lorraine region. ArcelorMittal and the French government have agreed to study the possibility of cooperating on potential research and innovation projects for the benefit of the Lorraine region. A joint contribution of EUR20million is presently being discussed. Company Web site: www.arcelormittal.com
