The global steel giant ArcelorMittal has agreed to invest in the Florange steel plant in the Moselle region of northeastern France, a matter which had become a key issue prior to France's presidential elections, according to international media reports.
As a result of a meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Lakshmi Mittal, owner of ArcelorMittal, ArcelorMittal will invest €17 million to restart the steel plant whose two blast furnaces have been idle since July last year due to weak demand.
Accordingly, the Florange steel plant will resume production in the second half of this year, with a €2 million investment to be made in one of the plant's blast furnaces. As SteelOrbis previously reported, ArcelorMittal had earlier informed unions that the furnaces would remain idle during the second half of the current year.