ArcelorMittal buys Polish scrap company

ArcelorMittal has signed an agreement to acquire Polish scrap metal recycling firm Zaklad Przerobu Zlomu (Zlomex). ArcelorMittal says Zlomex operates scrap yards in Krakow and Warsaw in Poland that “last year processed and shipped almost 400,000 metric tons of ferrous scrap metal.”

The Luxembourg-based steelmaker says it expects the sale to close in the first half of 2023, pending regulatory approvals. ArcelorMittal says Zlomex currently supplies mills and foundries in its market region and has been “a long-standing supplier to ArcelorMittal’s steel plants in Dabrowa Górnicza and Warsaw” in Poland.

ArcelorMittal indicates Zlomex in 2022 expanded its Krakow operations with the installation of a new shredder and separation equipment and also recently invested in an expansion of its Warsaw yard.

The Polish transaction is the fourth scrap metal acquisition ArcelorMittal has undertaken in Europe in 2022, says the steelmaker, as it “continually seeks to enhance its ability to source scrap steel, a key raw material which supports the company’s ability to reduce its carbon emissions.”

The other purchases include Riwald Recycling in the Netherlands in December, 10 yards from the Berlin-based Alba Group in May and United Kingdom-based John Lawrie Group in March.

“We have worked hard this year to secure greater access to the input materials we need for low-carbon emissions steelmaking,” says Geert Van Poelvoorde, CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe. “Acquiring four specialist scrap metal recyclers during the year is a very positive development and will play an important role in enhancing our ability to deliver low-carbon emissions steel.”

Van Poelvoorde continues, “I’d like to welcome all Zlomex’s employees to our group and look forward to working with them as we continue to execute our strategy to enhance our use of recycled materials in our steelmaking processes, reducing the carbon intensity of the steel we produce in the process. Alongside the technologies we are developing and deploying across our European business, this supports our ambition to lead the decarbonization of our industry and meet our target of reducing the carbon intensity of the steel we produce by 35 percent by 2030.”