ArcelorMittal, the second-largest steel producer in the world, spent EUR 35 million to build a plant in Ghent, Belgium, to convert waste wood into bio-coal for use in blast furnaces. This is the first plant in the European steel industry.

ArcelorMittal has commissioned the Torero plant, where the first bio-coal produced using the torrefaction process was successfully used in the blast furnace in Ghent on December 18.

The Torero plant will convert 88,000 tons of waste wood into 37,500 tons of bio-coal per year. The installation will reduce the use of fossil coal in the blast furnace, thereby reducing the plant's carbon emissions by 112,500 tons per year.

Besides, the Torero project has been supported by European funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation framework program.