On former steelmaking land near Dunkirk, ArcelorMittal is pouring hundreds of millions into a new kind of metal, hoping to anchor Europe’s electric future and defend ground against Asian competition.
A €500 million bet on electric steel
At Mardyck, a few kilometres from Dunkirk, ArcelorMittal is building one of its most ambitious European projects in a decade: a €500 million production line dedicated to electric steel. Three lines are due to be operating by the end of 2025, with five planned by 2027.
The goal is clear: supply the metallic heart of Europe’s electric motors – from cars and industrial drives to wind turbines and smart transformers – and lock in a share of a global market expected to reach €57 billion by 2032.
By 2032, electric steel could represent a €57 billion global market, driven by electric vehicles and smarter power grids.
For ArcelorMittal, once the world’s biggest steelmaker and now under pressure from Chinese rivals, the Mardyck move is both a technological upgrade and a strategic repositioning closer to customers in Europe.
From blast furnaces to precision metal: what electric steel really is
Electric steel has little in common with the bulky beams that still dominate the mental image of steelmaking. In this case, the product is a very thin, carefully processed strip designed to control magnetic fields and reduce energy losses.
These strips are stacked by the hundreds or thousands to form key parts of electrical machines, usually the stator and rotor at the core of a motor or generator.
Without high‑grade electric steel, high‑efficiency motors, transformers and wind turbines simply do not exist.
How electric steel works in a motor
Electric steel is engineered for its magnetic properties rather than its mechanical strength. The thinner and purer the material, the lower the so‑called core losses inside a motor.
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- Thin sheets channel magnetic flux more efficiently.
- Special heat treatment tunes the internal grain structure.
- Insulating coatings reduce short‑circuits between layers.
For an electric car, that translates into more kilometres of range from the same battery. For factories, it means motors that consume less electricity for the same output. On a national scale, this can shave gigawatts off peak demand.
An integrated production line in Mardyck
The new Mardyck facility is designed as an integrated chain, starting from conventional steel coils and ending with high‑value electric steel ready for motor and transformer makers.
The first phase includes three core lines:
- a preparation line,
- a continuous annealing and coating line,
- a slitting and finishing line.
Annealing modifies the crystal structure of the steel to give it the right magnetic response. The varnish applied afterwards electrically insulates each layer. Slitting cuts the wide strip into precise widths set by motor manufacturers.
Alongside Mardyck, ArcelorMittal’s Saint-Chély-d’Apcher site in southern France already produces electric steels. Together, both plants should deliver about 295,000 tonnes a year for the European market, entirely produced on French soil.
ArcelorMittal is concentrating its European electric steel capacity in France, turning the country into a key hub for this strategic material.
155,000 tonnes a year: what that actually means
Once fully ramped up, Mardyck alone is expected to supply around 155,000 tonnes of electric steel annually. Depending on market prices, that represents between €153 million and €204 million of annual output.
In physical terms, it means enough material for millions of electric motors and generators. Typical sheet thickness ranges from 0.2 to 0.35 millimetres for automotive and industrial applications, with thinner grades delivering lower energy losses.
The relationships are straightforward:
- Thinner steel → fewer magnetic losses.
- Fewer losses → higher efficiency.
- Higher efficiency → better range or lower electricity bills.
Applied to an electric vehicle fleet or a cluster of factories, incremental efficiency gains become a sizeable cut in power demand and operating costs.
A major industrial chantier in northern France
The investment is also a construction story. At peak, up to 400 people were involved in the project: engineers, civil works teams, installation specialists and commissioning crews. More than 300 external companies took part, from heavy-equipment contractors to local SMEs.
The project combined refurbishment of old industrial halls and construction of new buildings to house sensitive processing lines. For ArcelorMittal, the launch conditions are described internally as exemplary, with commissioning schedules tight and penalties for delays harsh.
The human side: skills, training and new roles
Today, about 175 people already work on electric steel activities across Mardyck and nearby Dunkirk. They handle operations, maintenance, quality, energy management and digital oversight of the lines.
Headcount should rise to roughly 200 people once the second phase is complete. Many roles were filled by internal transfers from other ArcelorMittal sites, complemented by targeted recruitment. More than 12,000 hours of training have been delivered, including on-the-job learning at Saint-Chély-d’Apcher, where more experienced teams passed on process know‑how.
The new plant is as much a skills project as a hardware project, with thousands of hours spent on specialised training.
A building block for European e-mobility
Mardyck sits at the centre of a broader attempt by France’s Hauts‑de‑France region to anchor a full electric mobility ecosystem. In recent years, several battery “gigafactories” and automotive suppliers have announced projects around Dunkirk and Valenciennes.
Electric steel brings a critical missing piece: the magnetic core of motors and transformers. Batteries may draw the headlines, but without motor efficiency, much of that stored energy is wasted.
By securing domestic production of this material, France also aims to cut reliance on imports from Asia, where large volumes of electric steel are currently produced. With carmakers under pressure to comply with EU content rules and carbon footprint reporting, locally sourced materials offer a commercial and regulatory advantage.
State support and strategic framing
The French state has backed the Mardyck project with €25 million of public funding via the “France 2030” programme. This support targets industrial capabilities that are seen as critical for the low‑carbon transition and energy security.
Electric steel fits directly into that list. It underpins everything from charging infrastructure and smart grids to rail systems and data‑centre cooling pumps. Without it, electrification would hit hard physical limits long before political climate targets.
Smart grids and the real driver of demand
Electric vehicles may be the most visible symbol of change, but they are not the only engine behind this market. According to industry research, the electric steel market stood at roughly $38.2 billion (around €32 billion) in 2023 and is forecast to reach about €57 billion in 2032.
A large share of this growth comes from modernising power networks. As solar panels and wind farms connect to the grid, operators need transformers and switching equipment that can handle more variable flows with minimal losses.
| Year | Estimated market size (approx.) |
|---|---|
| 2023 | €32 billion |
| 2032 | €57 billion |
Future smart grids will rely on a dense layer of sensors, advanced transformers and compact substations. All of these contain electric steel cores. The more electricity we push through the system, the more each percentage point of efficiency matters financially and environmentally.
Key terms and why they matter
What “losses” means in this context
When engineers talk about magnetic or core losses in electric steel, they refer to energy that turns into unwanted heat each time magnetic fields change inside the material. Two main types are usually mentioned: hysteresis losses, linked to the internal structure, and eddy current losses, caused by currents swirling in the steel.
Thinner sheets and better coatings cut these losses. That is why Mardyck’s ability to produce fine-gauge, precisely coated strip is so central to its business case.
Scenario: the impact on an electric car fleet
Imagine a national fleet of a million electric cars. If improved electric steel raises the efficiency of each motor by just 2–3%, the effect becomes sizeable. Batteries last longer before replacement, charging demand falls slightly at peak times, and motorway charging stations need fewer high-power connections.
Small gains at material level compound across vehicles, charging infrastructure and the grid. For a steelmaker used to selling by the tonne, that creates a new narrative: not just mass, but performance per kilogram.
Risks, trade-offs and competitiveness
This strategy still carries risks. The electric vehicle market faces policy swings, and some automakers are reassessing the pace of new investments. At the same time, Chinese producers are building their own higher-grade electric steel capacity, often with lower energy and labour costs.
ArcelorMittal’s answer in Mardyck rests on technology and location: shorter supply chains to European manufacturers, compliance with tight environmental rules, and close integration with regional industrial clusters. Whether that will be enough to withstand global price pressure will depend on how fast European demand scales and how much customers value local sourcing over pure cost.
For now, northern France gains a rare combination: a large industrial project, jobs anchored in advanced manufacturing, and a foothold in one of the key materials of the coming electrical age.