ARCEO launches a 60 million EUR investment in Belgium with a breakthrough coating technology

Liège, 27 April 2015 – ARCEO, a joint venture from ArcelorMittal and Sogepa (Société de Gestion et de Participations) is investing 60 million EUR in the construction of an innovative coating line at Kessales (Liège) in Belgium.

The line is based on the Jet Vapor Deposition process (JVD), a new technology which has been developed by the research and development (R&D) teams at ArcelorMittal in collaboration with the Metallurgical Research Centre (CRM Group) in Liège. Production is aimed to start mid-2016, the line will have a capacity of 300,000 tons per year. During a second phase it shall be coupled to the existing continuous annealing line in Liège.

Global view of the semi-industrial line used for the development and the assessment of the JVD technology

According to Jean-Claude Marcourt, Vice-President of the Walloon Government and Minister of Economic Affairs, Industry and Innovation, the public-private partnership between CRM Group and ArcelorMittal’s R&D teams results in high-level technology of pure Walloon origin. He adds: "Steel is a material of the future with high potential. JVD is an innovation which meets the current economic and environmental challenges. Today we are building a new industrial tool at the heart of the Liège region, an undertaking with high development potential. The ecosystem surrounding the steel of the new generation is getting stronger and is continuously fed by the know-how and the skills of workers and researchers from our region". 

What is JVD? 
Jet Vapor Deposition enables steel coating at high speed by projecting zinc vapor on the moving strip. This new technology allows for the first time coating of substrates that couldn’t be coated with conventional processes. It also opens perspectives for future development of new innovative products. JVD is a breakthrough process, both in terms of production process and product development. “It demonstrates the dedication and capability of our R&D teams who have been developing JVD over the last eight years, from a small lab trial up to a full industrial solution,” comments Carl De Maré, Vice-President and Head of Emerging Technology Development for ArcelorMittal Group.  

Renaud Witmeur, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Sogepa adds: "The JVD technology illustrates once more, that the Liège area has been and will always be the home of innovation in the steel sector. This investment shows the will of Sogepa to contribute to the future of the sector in the region, relying on new promising products.”  

Low energy consumption 
The JVD technology is REACH compliant: by only using thermal principles, it generates hardly any  emissions and represents an important environmental advantage with low energy consumption. The life cycle assessment illustrates that the environmental impact of JVD is substantially lower than the impact from steel production by electro-galvanization. 

Bernard Dehut, CEO at ArcelorMittal Liège, adds: “This project is an integral part of our new industrial plan. ArcelorMittal Liège will be the first industrial site worldwide using this technology. This will reinforce our global leadership in coating technology.”