the belval site

The Belval site is located in the south of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg near the French border. It extends into the local administrative communities, or “Communes” of Esch-sur-Alzette and Sanem.

 

Esch-sur-Alzette, the centre of Luxembourg’s steel industry, is the country’s second largest city with a population of 31,000 inhabitants. In addition to its well-established cultural activities, it is home to several professional training centres and schools, social and health institutions as well as sports and recreational facilities. The public and private services based here are of both regional and national importance. The Commune of Sanem, which includes Belvaux, Ehlerange, Soleuvre and Sanem, has a population of around 15,000.

The industrial wasteland at Belval is the former site of the Arbed, Luxembourg's steel group which was founded in 1911. In 2002 the Arbed merged with the Spanish group Aceralia and the French group Usinor, to create Arcelor, which in turn merged with Mittal Steel in 2006 to form ArcelorMittal. When Luxembourg’s last operational blast furnace, blast furnace B, was shut down in 1997, an area of 120 hectares in the western part of the site became available for redevelopment, while the remaining part continues to be a production site for the ArcelorMittal group.

 

The site is easily accessible both by road and by rail, with a line that runs along its southern boundary.