PARIS (AFP) – Steelmaking giant ArcelorMittal said yesterday it would build a new plant in the United States (US) to produce steel used in electric vehicles, as it posted a surge in annual net profit.
The USD900-million investment in Calvert, Alabama, will enable the company to produce 150,000 tonnes per year of material known as non-grain-oriented electrical steel (NOES).
Such steel “plays a crucial role in the performance and efficiency of electric motors used to power battery electric vehicles” and hybrid cars, it said.
“Given the nature of the US auto market (larger vehicles, full-size pickups, SUVs) there is rapidly growing demand for the most sophisticated NOES for which there is limited US domestic supply capabilities,” ArcelorMittal said.
The plant is expected to start production in 2027 and generate an annual underlying profit of USD200 million per year.
The announcement was made in a results statement showing ArcelorMittal’s annual net profit reached USD1.3 billion in 2024, a 45-per-cent jump from the previous year.
The company narrowed its losses in the last three months of last year to USD390 million, compared to a loss of almost USD3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023.
