ArcelorMittal Dofasco misses key milestones in $1.8B 'green' steel project promised for 2028

Construction has yet to begin on ArcelorMittal Dofasco's massive "green" steel upgrades, despite plans by Ontario's largest industrial carbon emitter to phase out coal at its Hamilton plant and cut emissions 60 per cent by 2028.

A CBC Hamilton investigation, which included capturing drone footage of the plant and speaking with industry insiders, indicates the project is not moving ahead as company executives publicly promised after missing key milestones in 2023 and 2024. 

Those milestones include demolishing a coke plant to make room for a direct reduced iron (DRI) plant, piecing together what would become the tallest structure in Hamilton and getting approval for the construction of a 14-kilometre natural gas pipeline required for the project. 

Dofasco told CBC last week it remains committed to decarbonization and there are no changes to its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, timelines or related budgets.

The federal government was also contacted by CBC and said in a statement that Dofasco aims to hit its carbon emission goal in 2030 — two years after the announced project deadline.

In a series of high-profile announcements in 2022, the heads of ArcelorMittal and a slew of politicians, including Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, touted the project. Along with a DRI plant, Dofasco would add electric arc furnaces (EAFs).

"Today's event will now move us from the planning stage to action stage," ArcelorMittal chair Lakshmi Mittal told reporters at a news conference in October 2022. 

Trudeau toured the plant that day, saying "right now the first major steel company in the world making a switch toward electric, away from coal, is happening right here in Hamilton." 

Dofasco is the largest industrial source of carbon dioxide emissions in Ontario. The decarbonization project aims to cut its emissions by three mega tonnes (MT), or 60 per cent, and make a sizable dent in Ontario's own target to reduce emissions by 12 MT between 2022 and 2030.

And "green" steel will be in high demand, said Trudeau, as North America's electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing industry grows. 

With a $900-million commitment from the Ontario and federal governments combined, taxpayers and Dofasco are splitting the cost of the estimated $1.8-billion decarbonization project. 

Liberal MP Filomena Tassi (Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas) described the government funding as "one of the biggest and most important investments in Canada's fight against climate change."

In January 2023, Dofasco announced on its website that construction work was about to begin.

The project manager at the time, Rob Marzetti, described it as an "enormously technical and complex task" involving up to 900 construction workers on site.