A Dream That Became Reality: Employees and Retirees Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the ArcelorMittal Reduction Plant in Contrecoeur
CONTRECOEUR, September 26, 2013 – Employees and retirees of the Contrecoeur reduction plant have been proudly celebrating the facility’s 40th anniversary. On September 13, more than fifty guests, including retirees from the plant and current management, revisited major events of the past 40 years through speeches and a photo exhibit. Workers who were on duty at the time held a lunch in the plant to celebrate the anniversary.
Since 1972, the Contrecoeur-East steelworks started producing steel from recycled scrap iron. With the construction of the reduction plant, completed in 1973, a dream to became reality: an integrated steel industry in Quebec. The new plant made reduction–the process that removes most of the oxygen contained in iron pellets–possible here, and meant that ore mined in northern Quebec could be converted locally. The Contrecoeur reduction plant, the first of its kind in Canada and only the fourth in the world, has been cited as an example many times for its contribution to the improvement of this technology.
“Our company has changed over time, but one thing has always remained. It is our employees’ passion and spirit of innovation,” said Sujit Sanyal, Vice President, Operations, at ArcelorMittal Montreal. “The Contrecoeur reduction plant reflects these successes. I would like to congratulate our predecessors, who made history at the plant, as well as the worthy employees who are now carrying the torch.”
“There have been many twists and turns in the past 40 years and, every time, the reduction plant’s workers have dealt with the challenges they faced. This is why we can be optimistic about the future,” added Reduction Plant Manager Michel Germain.
Recent events have shown that the reduction plant allows ArcelorMittal Montreal to react quickly to steel market fluctuations. In June, the plant restarted one of its two direct reduction modules that had been idled since May 2011. This investment of nearly $20 million enabled the Contrecoeur-West steelworks, so far supplied only with scrap iron, to use direct reduced iron pellets to produce higher-end steel products. Today, the reduction plant has about 70 employees and annual production capacity of over one and a half million tons of direct reduced iron pellets. The plant’s main customers are the two ArcelorMittal Montreal Contrecoeur steelworks.
The reduction plant management would like to thank their partners—unions, suppliers and local elected officials—who have contributed to the plant’s success since 1973.
About ArcelorMittal Montreal
ArcelorMittal Montréal’s mission is to safely manufacture sustainable steel in accordance with its values of quality, leadership, health and safety and sustainability. The company employs about 1,750 people in 11 facilities in Contrecœur, Longueuil, Montreal, La Prairie, Hamilton and Ottawa. It operates three scrap metal conversion divisions, one iron ore reduction plant, two steel plants, three rolling mills and two wire drawing plants. The group has an annual production capacity of over 2 million tons of steel and generates economic spinoffs of more than $1 billion per year.
ArcelorMittal Montreal is part of ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading integrated steel and mining company, with a presence in more than 60 countries. For more information about ArcelorMittal, please visit www.arcelormittal.com.
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