Marcegaglia moves to the engineering phase of construction of its plant in Fos-sur-Mer

Italian steel group Marcegaglia has begun the engineering phase of its new flat steel production project in Fos-sur-Mer, in southern France. The Mistral project involves the construction of a mini-mill, which will start production in 2028, according to Kallanish.

The equipment will be supplied by Italian company Danieli, which will provide comprehensive production facilities: scrap preparation, electric steel production, slab casting, and hot-rolled coil rolling. The new plant will be able to produce up to 2.1 million tons per year of stainless and carbon hot-rolled coils, covering about 30% of Marcegaglia’s needs for this product for its cold rolling complex in Ravenna.

The project involves the use of advanced technologies: a Danieli Fastarc Zerobucket furnace with continuous scrap loading and a preheating system, as well as adaptive Q-Melt control. This will ensure high energy efficiency and reduced CO2 and NOx emissions. The molten steel will be processed on two off-furnace treatment units and vacuum degassers.

The production equipment will combine a Stakel mill and a five-stand hot rolling mill in a single configuration. This approach will allow both stainless slabs from the Marcegaglia plant in Sheffield and carbon slabs from the new continuous casting machine to be rolled.

Particular attention has been paid to the environment: water and gas purification systems are planned, as well as the use of low-carbon nuclear energy. In June, Marcegaglia signed a ten-year memorandum with EDF to cover half of the future plant’s energy consumption.

The total investment amounts to approximately €800 million. After acquiring the former Ascometal Fos-sur-Mer site in 2024, the company renamed it Marcegaglia Fos-sur-Mer. Jacques-Yves Floc, former manager of ArcelorMittal Dunkirk, became the new director of the enterprise.

Construction is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2026, following the completion of engineering work.

As a reminder, Marcegaglia announced €364 million in investments in its production facilities in Italy. Most of the funds, €278 million, will be used to modernize the plant in Ravenna. Another €20 million will be invested in research and development. The rest of the investment will go to plants in Gazoldo degli Ippoliti and San Giorgio di Nogaro.