Join Steligence® for this free English-language webinar on Thursday 22 April 2021 at 13.00 CET.

Topic: Facades and roofing - our latest innovations in prepainted steels to meet the new requirements

Presenter: Patrick Le Pense, ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products

Click here to register.

Durability, the environment, aesthetics: our new generation of prepainted steels for facades and roofs can offer an effective response.

During this webinar, we will explain how we are responding to these challenges with new prepainted steels that are more durable and more resistant to corrosion and UV - with fewer environmental impacts and improved aesthetics. This new offer is Granite® HDXtreme.

These steels go beyond standards. They all come with solid guarantees as well as services to facilitate your projects. Our digitisation (BIM, etc.) accompanies these developments.

This webinar will also be hosted in French on 9 June 2021. Click here to register for the French session.

Related link(s)

Register for EN webinar

Indi building ArcelorMittal Gent

Join Steligence® for this free English-language webinar on Wednesday 5 May 2021 at 13.00 CET.

Topic: Looking for flat steels highly protective against corrosion for your building? Discover Magnelis®

Presenter: Jérôme Guth, ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products

Click here to register.

Raw materials play a fundamental role in the long-term durability and safety of buildings. Quality raw materials increase lifetime, reduce maintenance costs, and help prevent early and major repairs.

Magnelis® protects against corrosion three times better than galvanised steel, is easy to process (profiling, bending, cutting), has a lower environmental impact, and is available in a wide range of thicknesses and high strength steel grades.

In this free webinar, Magnelis® performances with facts and figures will be presented, including field test results in various environments. Its many applications and the value this product can bring to your building projects will be covered.

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In February 2021, ArcelorMittal Asturias completed its coke oven gas (COG) injection project for Blast Furnace B in its Gijón plant, a strategic step to reduce CO2 emissions and operational costs thanks to lower coke consumption. Use of this innovative technology will result in a reduction in CO2 emissions of 125 000 tonnes a year, equivalent to the emissions generated by the annual consumption of 84 000 Spanish households with individual natural gas-based heating systems*.

CO2 emissions reduction

ArcelorMittal Europe has a target to reduce its CO2 emissions by 30% by 2030 and an ambition to become carbon neutral by 2050. To achieve this target, ArcelorMittal Europe has two main technological pathways, innovative DRI (direct reduced iron) and Smart Carbon, which were presented in the company’s first Climate Action Report published in June 2020. Innovative DRI involves the use of hydrogen for the direct reduction of iron ore for use in both electric arc furnaces and blast furnaces. Smart Carbon is a carbon-neutral steel production path that makes use of all clean energies (circular carbon, clean electricity, and carbon capture and storage, or CCS) in a controlled high-temperature reduction environment for the production of hot metal. In the first stage, the Smart Carbon path will basically use circular carbon, expanding to become hydrogen Smart Carbon when green hydrogen is widely available and affordable.

Smart Carbon

The Smart Carbon approach, as applied in the projects that the company is working on at its European Flat Products sites, allows gases from various sources to be injected into the blast furnace. The injection of coke oven gas, with high hydrogen content, is an effective and cost-efficient method that enables steel producers to reduce CO2 emissions immediately. ArcelorMittal Asturias has completed the most advanced project in the company linked to the use of coke oven gas and has initiated the injection of grey hydrogen (hydrogen recovered from various gases, including natural gas and coke oven gas) into Blast Furnace B.

The Asturias project is based on the idea of reducing the amount of CO2 generated in the hot metal production process through the reuse of part of the gas generated in the coke oven batteries to partially replace the coke used as fuel in the blast furnace. With the same circular economy approach, the plant is finalising the work that will allow coke oven gas to be supplied to the reheating furnaces in the Heavy Plate and Rail mills, thus reducing the consumption of natural gas and the generation of CO2. These rolling mills process steel slabs and billets from the Avilés and Gijón steel plants, transforming them into heavy plates and rails respectively.

Oswaldo Suárez, CEO of ArcelorMittal’s Asturias Cluster, notes that “the injection of coke-oven gas into Blast Furnace B is an important milestone in the transformation of our processes to progress towards a more sustainable, low-carbon production model.”

*Based on a recent study by the Spanish Institute for Energy Diversification and Savings (IDAE).

Text:
ArcelorMittal
Constructalia

Images:
ArcelorMittal

Driving the responsible production and sourcing of steel, ResponsibleSteel™ is the steel industry’s first global multi-stakeholder standard and certification initiative. ArcelorMittal has played a pivotal role in establishing this standard since 2015, and this pertinent work continues.

What is ResponsibleSteel™?

ResponsibleSteel™ is a not-for-profit organisation developing sustainability performance standards and an independent third-party certification programme for the steel value chain. At its heart, it is a multi-stakeholder collaboration between business and civil society. This ground-breaking initiative now involves over 70 members and associates, made up of companies and civil society organisations from around the world.

Alan Knight, Head of Sustainable Development at ArcelorMittal, notes: “Responsible production techniques and high ethical and business standards are becoming increasingly important to our customers, and ultimately to their customers and consumers. We want to get to a point where steel users and purchasers have total confidence in their choices.”

Our approach

We know the importance of creating a standard to ensure that steel industry customers – and thereby consumers – can be confident that the steel they use has been sourced and produced responsibly at every stage.

By creating a multi-stakeholder forum to build trust and achieve consensus, ResponsibleSteel™ aims to enhance the responsible sourcing, production, use, and recycling of steel through the development of standards, certification, and related tools.

In November 2019, ResponsibleSteel™ published a performance standard for steel making sites, and in 2020 we considered how it handles raw materials and other supply chain issues. Members using the standard will be able to gain competitive advantage by using the standards to inform customers of the credibility and rigour that has gone into auditing their social and environmental performance.

The ResponsibleSteel™ performance standard – with 12 environmental, social, and governance principles - was published in November 2019.

ArcelorMittal has been a driving force in the creation of ResponsibleSteel™ and is represented on the Board of Directors. In developing the ResponsibleSteel™ standard, ArcelorMittal has been working with other steel companies such as Blue Scope, Voestalpine, and Aperam, together with a range of stakeholders across the steel value chain: Anglo American; automotive makers Daimler and BMW; civil society organisations Mighty Earth, IUCN, and the Climate Group; the bank HSBC, and the global union IndustriAll.

Having run pilot audits across key sites in 2018 and 2019 whilst the standard was in development, ArcelorMittal began the process of certifying various sites across the group in 2020, including the ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products division.

The ResponsibleSteel™ principles

Principle 1. Corporate Leadership
Principle 2. Social, Environmental, and Governance Management Systems
Principle 3. Occupational and Community Health and Safety
Principle 4. Labour Rights
Principle 5. Human Rights
Principle 6. Local Communities
Principle 7. Stakeholder Engagement and Communication
Principle 8. Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Principle 9. Noise, Emissions, Effluents, and Waste
Principle 10. Water Stewardship
Principle 11. Biodiversity
Principle 12. Decommissioning and Closure

Text:
ArcelorMittal Luxembourg
Constructalia

Images:
ResponsibleSteel™

ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products has created a new product designed for use in extreme climates. Granite® HDXtreme is the latest prepainted steel in ArcelorMittal’s organic coated Granite® range. Granite® HDXtreme is uniquely beautiful, resilient against corrosion, sustainable, and can be used in both indoor and outdoor applications. A three-layer coating system provides high levels of protection against UV and corrosion. This enables ArcelorMittal to guarantee the steel’s performance. Granite® HDXtreme comes in a vast palette of colours and three different finishes to make any project unique.

Three-layer coating system

The strength of Granite® HDXtreme comes from its three-layer coating system which ranges from 70 to 75 microns (µm) depending on the finish. Each layer performs a different but integral function.

The primer layer plays a key role in corrosion protection by ensuring the top coat adheres tightly to the underlying steel. On top of that is a polyurethane basecoat which ensures the steel’s durability and provides the final colour. The coating is finished with a layer of varnish which adds texture to the coating, increases durability and surface robustness, and enhances the UV weathering potential of Granite® HDXtreme.

Weathering resistance

Granite® HDXtreme already meets the requirements of the updated EN 10169 standard for continuously organic coated flat steels. Its exceptional UV resistance offers colour stability for many years. Granite® HDXtreme is also ready to pass the upcoming new RUV5 UV resistance standard when it is published later in 2021.

The coating has also been evaluated by exposing prepainted samples of Granite® HDXtreme to accelerated UV, humidity, and temperature variations for up to 4000 hours. Natural outdoor exposure tests have also been carried out at locations around the world.

Automatic guarantees

ArcelorMittal’s extensive experience and testing, including in highly corrosive seafront locations, translates into a long-term guarantee of up to 40 years for Granite® HDXtreme. The guarantee is applicable to roofs and facades as well as the installation of rooftop photovoltaic modules.

Samples

Samples of Granite® HDXtreme are available through our online sample shop.

Three finishes, almost 50 colours

Created in consultation with architects and designers, Granite® HDXtreme is available in a huge palette of colours and three different finishes: satin, matt, and sparkling.

The satin finish is available in either 15 or 30 gloss units (GU) and has a grained texture. The matt (<10GU) finely wrinkled finish is available in four colours, and a sparkling, grained 30 GU finish is available in five colours. The latter are amongst the most attractive and sparkly steel finishes available on the market. More colours may be added depending on demand. The low gloss, matt finish is ideal for large flat panels and cassettes, while the standard and sparkling finishes are more suited to small panels.

9 solano colours have been added to the colour palette. Click on the image below to view.

Highly sustainable

The steel is designed for roofs and facades on buildings near the sea, and its performance is guaranteed for up to 40 years. Free of hexavalent chromium and heavy metals plus 100% recyclable, Granite® HDXtreme is highly sustainable: it has a lower CO2 footprint compared with alternative solutions such as aluminium.

The first building with Granite® HDXtreme

ArcelorMittal Ghent’s Indi building in Belgium is the first building to be clad with Granite® HDXtreme. Located close to the industrial environment of the mill and the sea, Granite® HDXtreme was the ideal choice.

Text:
ArcelorMittal Europe Communications
Constructalia

Images:
Jeroen Op de Beeck and Philippe Vandenameele
ArcelorMittal

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Granite® HDXtreme banner

Indi building ArcelorMittal Gent

On 16 March, French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal became the newest laureates of the prestigious Pritzker Prize - the highest distinction in the world of architecture. Known for their private and social housing, public space, and institutional building design, Lacaton and Vassal meld sustainability with respect for pre-existing structures.

Sustainable designs that favour expanding space

Lacaton and Vassal, from the eponymous agency they founded in 1987, are known for their architecture that infuses humanism with sustainable and affordable designs that favour the expansion of space. They also received the Sustainable Architecture Prize in 2018. Their most notable works include: 14 houses for the Cité Manifeste in Mulhouse (2005), the Bordeaux University Management Sciences Centre (2008), the rehabilitation of the Bois-le-Prêtre Tower in Paris with ArcelorMittal metallic coated steel (2010), the transformation of 530 housing units - buildings G, H, I - in the Grand Parc district of Bordeaux (2017; with Frédéric Druot and Christophe Hutin), and a residential and office building in Chêne-Bourg, Switzerland (2020).

Their work is grounded in an intention to respond to ecological and social imperativeness, especially in the sphere of urban housing. “They accomplish this through a powerful sense of space and materials that creates architecture as strong in its forms as in its convictions, as transparent in its aesthetic as in its ethics.” (Pritzker press release)

Lightness and simplicity

With the use of winter gardens and balconies, the architects economically expand living space, conserving energy and bringing the outdoors in. “Our job is to solve constraints and problems and find spaces that can create uses, emotions, and feelings” explains Jean-Philippe Vassal. “At the end of this process and all of these efforts, there must be lightness and simplicity, when everything that came before was so complex." (Pritzker press release)

Discover how Lacatan and Vassal, along with Frédéric Druot, brought this breathability to the constrained space of the Bois-le-Prêtre Tower through renovation in our case study.

Text:
Constructalia

Images:
Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal photo courtesy of Laurent Chalet
ArcelorMittal

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Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal

ArcelorMittal Europe - Long Products has released the 2021 edition of its complete sales programme of Hot rolled steel sections and Merchant bars - now with an interactive table of contents!

The 2021 version includes new steel grades: A913 (2019) Grade 80, EN 10025:2019, S500M, and S460W.

Visit our Document library to download your copy.

Related link(s)

Sections and Merchant bars sales programme

Sections & Merchant bars

Steel sheet piles have been used for decades in the construction of underground car parks, and this trend is increasing as the demand for underground car parks rises in densely populated areas. Steel sheet pile walls are a sustainable solution for underground car parks up to three or four levels below the surface.

This R&D report explores design methods, vertical loads and bearing capacity, innovative installation techniques, fire design methods, design software, sealing systems, and sustainability for underground car parks with steel sheet piles.

Paper abstract

Vehicle traffic and lack of parking space is one of the main challenges for big cities. Especially in city centres, land is very expensive and the trend to increase parking capacity is to build underground structures. In this article, an innovative, economical, and environmentally-friendly solution for underground car parks built with steel sheet piles is described. Several aspects like fire safety, impervious walls, vertical bearing capacity, environmental impacts, and reduction of traffic due to construction vehicles are discussed.

Research paper, abstract, images:
© João Martins, ArcelorMittal Commercial RPS; Michał Januszewski, ArcelorMittal Commercial Long Polska

Intro:
Constructalia

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Markthal underground car park in Rotterdam, The Netherlands

R&D report: Innovative and sustainable steel sheet pile solutions for undergound car parks

The 2021 edition of ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling’s general catalogue ‘Steel foundation solutions’ is now available!

This new edition introduces the new HZ 630M profile for HZ-M/AZ combined walls.

We also detailed the methodology used for running our life-cycle assessment to obtain our specific Environmental Product Declarations.

Download the new catalogue below or from our Document library.

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ArcelorMittal Sheet Piling: Steel Foundation Solutions