ARCELORMITTAL FRANCE

Their core work

ArcelorMittal France is the French arm of one of the world's largest steel producers, operating major integrated steelworks including the Dunkirk site. Within H2020 they brought industrial-scale capabilities to two very different challenges: capturing CO2 from blast furnace gas to decarbonize primary steelmaking, and developing advanced steel-composite solutions for lighter electric vehicles. Their value lies in offering real production environments, metallurgical depth, and the ability to move lab results into heavy industry.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the earlier H2020 period (3D, started 2019) their effort was squarely on decarbonizing their own heavy industry: CO2 capture, waste heat recovery and a CCS hub anchored in Dunkirk. In the later period (ALMA, 2021) the focus shifts downstream to where steel is sold, with lightweight materials, composites and eco-design for electric vehicles. The trajectory is clear: protect the primary business by cutting its emissions, while positioning steel as a materials partner for the EV transition.

Heading toward a twin-track decarbonization play — capturing CO2 from existing steelmaking while repositioning steel products for the electric mobility market.

How they like to work

They join consortia rather than lead them — one participant role and one third-party role, no coordination. They have worked with 28 different partners across 10 countries, suggesting they plug into large, geographically spread industrial consortia rather than running their own tight network. Expect them to contribute specific industrial assets (a steel plant, a product portfolio) rather than managing the project machinery.

28 unique partners across 10 countries, with activity centered on North Sea CCS geography (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, UK) for energy work and a broader automotive materials network for ALMA.

What sets them apart

Unlike research institutes or engineering SMEs working on CCS or lightweight materials in theory, ArcelorMittal France brings an operational blast furnace and a finished-steel product line to the table. Partners get access to a real industrial site in Dunkirk for CO2 capture demonstrations and to a major OEM-tier materials supplier for automotive trials. For anyone needing "does this actually work at industrial scale?" validation in steel, they are one of the few credible European hosts.

Highlights from their portfolio

• 3D
  Flagship DMX CO2 capture demonstration on the Dunkirk steelworks with EUR 4.76M allocated to ArcelorMittal France — a rare example of a major steelmaker hosting a first-of-a-kind CCS pilot on its own blast furnace.
• ALMA
  Shows the company moving beyond commodity steel into the EV value chain, combining steel with composites and structural health monitoring for eco-designed battery electric vehicles.