For its building, K36 Ugibright, a special grade of KARA, ArcelorMittal’s new ferritic brand, was chosen for its performance and aesthetics. K36 is indeed very ductile, which allowed the specialists to reduce the thickness of the material, thus facilitating erection and enabling a reduction in the weight of the facade. The grade was also selected thanks to its surface finish that offers exceptional qualities in terms of lustre, reflectivity, uniformity and long service life resulting from its smooth finish.

The speed of execution of this project reflects ArcelorMittal’s commitment to move even closer to its customers by enhancing its service offer in Central Europe.

The main components such as the aluminium electrode arms, guiding roller units for electrodes, the roof lifting arm and the hydraulic system were provided by Badische Stahl Engineering from Kehl, in Germany.

The new ladle furnace has a capacity of 125t, tap-to-tap time of between 60 to 72 minutes. The heating time is 4°C/min and the electrode diameter 400 mm.

Among the visitors were the town mayor, Iñaki Beraza, and various members of the Council. They highlighted the high level of safety awareness in the workplace among all employees and their concern for protecting the environment. Students from schools in Salvatierra also took part in the event. Prizes were awarded to the winners of painting and essay writing competitions.

The visit included a guided tour of both the Steel Service Centre and Distribution Iberia facilities. Visitors had the chance to see the modern hot coil and heavy plate cutting processes using flame, plasma and laser-cutting. Everyone was particularly impressed by the production line for posts and columns for streetlamps and traffic lights, in the manufacture of which the plant has a long tradition.

United on a shared, fitted out and landscaped stand, all ArcelorMittal’s segments (Long Products, Flat Products, Stainless, Steel Solutions and Services) mustered at the international building exhibition Batimat.

Batimat is the international building exhibition held every 2 years in Paris (France). Around 400,000 visitors were expected this year, from Monday 5 to Saturday 10 November.

Building and Construction Support (BCS) under the direction of Pierre Bourrier, brought ArcelorMittal Construction’s resources together, on 600 m², and into an organisation that ran without a hitch.

Visiting GMB member Gonzalo Urquijo was very impressed by the stand. CEO Steel Solutions and Services Philippe Darmayan emphasized the advantage for the customer of finding all of ArcelorMittal’s construction products in a single location: a very professional, informative stand, and above all, the more representative ArcelorMittal construction offer, displayed in a particularly attractive space.

On October 11 2007, in the presence of the President of the Regional Council and the Mayor, the inaugural groundbreaking launched the worksite of a new Steel Service Centre (SSC) in Edenkoben, Germany.

The site will come to replace the Ludwigshafen site, located in the same region, whose lease was going to end soon due to its change of listing from industrial perimeter to residential area.

Several strategic factors fostered the creation of this Steel Service Centre. Its geographical location close to the motorway and railway network and its situation in a high economic growth area were also favourable arguments, as was the short distance to Ludwigshafen, which will enable all the collaborators to transfer to the new site. The total investment planned for this project is 23 million euros.

In order to ensure the transition between the two sites and to maintain a high quality of service, two of the tools will be set up in Edenkoben, while the activity in Ludwigshafen will progressively decrease. The inauguration of this new service centre is scheduled for spring 2009.

The line, which will cost 18 million US$, will start operating in mid-2008 to meet the growing demand for quality sheets in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and South-East Germany. It complements the ongoing debottlenecking of Ostrava’s hot rolling mill. This equipment will be located next to the two cut to length lines which already operate in Ostrava, taking the de-coiling capacity to a total of 400,000 tons. This unique location will allow the new SSC to benefit from significant logistics and cost competitiveness.

Philippe Darmayan, CEO of ArcelorMittal Steel Solutions and Services, and Vijay Bhatnagar, CEO for Eastern Europe, declared that this project was another key element of ArcelorMittal’s strategic development plan in Central and Eastern Europe, as part of their drive towards quality and service leadership.

For Gonzalo Urquijo, member of the ArcelorMittal Group Management Board and in charge of Steel Solutions & Services, this acquisition is an important step for ArcelorMittal to meet the strong Turkish demand in all products, Turkey being one of the fastest growing steel markets. According to Urquijo, the construction sector in Turkey is very dynamic and the acquisition of this stake in Rozak will allow ArcelorMittal’s steel distribution business in this country to reach its capacity target in 2010.

Rozak is specialized in H-profiles, sheet and plates. In 2006, it shipped 450 000 tons and its turnover reached 260 million euros. ArcelorMittal is already the major supplier of Rozak. The company was created in 1983 and employs a hundred people in five sites in Turkey: Gebze, Ikitelli, Eregli, Iskenderum and Izmit, two of which are currently expanding.

ArcelorMittal is already active in Turkey in flat carbon steel production, through participation in Borçelik, as well as in the packaging and steel service centre businesses.

ArcelorMittal Geel, formerly “Europese Staal Prefabricatie” (ESP), is one of the biggest Steel Service Centres in Europe with customers in many European countries and wants to become a channel for the new ArcelorMittal products, the change of name reflecting this ambition.

The second reason for the celebration was ArcelorMittal Geel’s commitment to security as a top priority which has earned the company an OHSAS certificate for its safety policy, also called the ISO 18001certificate.

Additionally, the inauguration of a new quay was celebrated. All these events were followed, on September 1, by a party for all employees of the site as well as their families, who celebrated the boldness and the leadership of ArcelorMittal demonstrated by these three successes.

The system will significantly contribute towards improving work conditions at blast furnace Nr. 5 and will reduce dust emissions to the environment.

Augustine Kochuparampil, CEO of ArcelorMittal Galati, called the commissioning of the de-dusting installation one important step forward in their environment investment programme, adding that the programme would allow them to comply with all the requirements regarding the environment, by using the best available technologies.

It is the firm belief of ArcelorMittal SSC Benelux that guaranteeing safe working conditions for all colleagues and collaborators is a binding moral obligation for all within the company.

In order to thank everybody for their continued commitment and determination for excellence, the management organised a family event on Friday, August 31. On the picture you see the team at the Steel Service Centre Benelux.