2008 Minerals Yearbook and

U.S. Department of the Interior December 2010 U.S. Geological Survey Th e Mi n e r a l In d u s t r i e s o f Be l g i u m a n d Lu x e mb o u r g By Alberto Alexander Perez

BELGIUM the production of were the leading mineral industries in Belgium. The country was also a producer of cadmium, cobalt, Belgium is located at the heart of one of the world’s most germanium, selenium, and tellurium. Belgium’s well-developed highly industrialized regions. It has an export-oriented industrial minerals sector included the production of such economy, although its trade deficit became greater in 2008. Its industrial materials as carbonates and cement, and such industry depended greatly on nondomestic markets, especially construction materials as dolomite, limestone, and silica sand those of other European Union (EU) countries; about 80% of (table 1). Belgium’s exports went to EU countries. More than one-half of Belgium’s gross domestic product (GDP) stems from foreign Structure of the Mineral Industry sales, of which the country has one of the highest percentages of all industrialized nations. Belgium, Luxembourg, and the The principal mining and mineral-processing facilities in Netherlands (BENELUX) comprise the BENELUX custom unit, Belgium, with their locations and capacities, are listed in which is an economic union aimed at reinforcing cross-border table 2. Most facilities were privately owned either by Belgian cooperation between the three countries. More than 16% of U.S. companies or other EU companies. exports to the EU in 2008 went to Belgium (Emporiki Bank of Greece S.A., 2009). Commodity Review

Minerals in the National Economy Metals

Trading of diamond and the processing of metals were the and Steel.—ArcelorMittal announced that it had leading mineral industries in Belgium. The country had no struck a deal with the Belgian Government to obtain the CO2 economically exploitable reserves of coal or metal ores in 2008. quotas it needed to reopen its in the southern The country imports substantial quantities of raw materials. part of Wallonia. It was reported that the Government supplied

The metal processing industries were significant to the Belgian additional CO2 quotas but that the group had also agreed to economy, particularly steel. Belgium was the 18th ranked contribute to the effort by reducing its emissions (Ponthus, producer of steel in the world, producing 10.7 million metric 2008). Also, ArcelorMittal reported that in January it had tons in 2008 (World Steel Association, 2009, p. 9). inaugurated its industrial prototype for a vacuum plasma steel Umicore Group, which was one of Europe’s leading metal coating line at its plant in the city of Liege (Schwarz, 2008). recyclers and processors, was located in Hoboken, Belgium. Zinc.—In its 2008 annual report, Nyrstar N.V. reported Its most important business sectors were the zinc processing that it cut zinc metal production in the last quarter of 2008 by division, an advanced materials division that dealt with such 35,000 metric tons (t) and that it foresaw further cuts in 2009. minerals as cobalt and germanium, and a precious metals The company indicated that although it had already robust division (N.V. Umicore S.A., 2009). balance sheet net cash as of December 31, 2008, the offtake In 2008, Belgium retained its position as the world’s diamond agreement with Glencore International AG of Switzerland capital in terms of trade and served as the headquarters of provided improved liquidity and lowered inventory. It also more than 1,500 diamond firms (the largest concentration of stated that it had sold its holdings in Padaeng Industry Public companies in the industry). The city of Antwerp’s diamond Company Ltd. of Thailand and had agreed to sell its holdings in industry centered on the production of rough, polished, and Nyrstar Yunnan Zinc Alloys Co. Ltd. (Nyrstar N.V., 2009). industrial diamond (Antwerp World Diamond Centre, 2009). In 2008, exports of mineral products increased by 32% with Industrial Minerals respect to those of 2007 and they constituted 9.9% of total exports. The mineral exports included, but were not limited to, Diamond, Industrial.—The diamond district of Antwerp, aluminum, copper, diamond, lubricants and related materials, which comprised four exchanges and about 1,500 diamond metalliferous ore and metal scrap, mineral fuels, and petroleum companies, was a leading diamond distribution center. Belgium and related products (Belgium Foreign Trade Agency, 2009). was the world’s leading exporter of diamond and precious stones and handled about 80% of world consumption of rough Production and polished diamond. One in two polished diamonds in the world was handled in Antwerp and eight in ten rough diamonds Mining was less important to the country’s economy than in in the world were handled there. The United States remained the the past, and in 2008, mining was conducted only for industrial most important export market for cut diamond (Antwerp World minerals. The refining of copper, minor metals, and zinc, and Diamond Centre, 2009).

Belgium and Luxembourg—2008 5.1 Belgium’s polished and rough diamond trade slowed by trade, ranking only second in Europe to the Port of Rotterdam October 2008, giving signs that the strains on the global in terms of gross tonnage throughput and third after Rotterdam financial markets had affected the diamond sector. Belgium and Hamburg in terms of the number of containers that pass saw polished exports fall by 4% to $905 million, including through the port. The emphasis that Belgium has been giving to significantly lower sales to Israel, Switzerland, and the United renewable energies is likely to continue in the foreseeable future. Kingdom. Polished exports to the United States, which accounted for one-third of the total diamond exports, remained References Cited relatively flat for the month of October. The value of rough imports declined by 32% to $670 million, and in terms of Antwerp World Diamond Centre, 2009, Profile of the Antwerp Diamond volume, they fell by 36% (Krawitz, 2008). Centre: Antwerp World Diamond Centre. (Accessed January 20, 2010, http://www.awdc.be/profile-antwerp-diamond-centre.) Belgium Foreign Trade Agency, 2009, Commerce Exterieur de la Mineral Fuels and Other Sources of Energy Belgique: Belgium Foreign Trade Agency. (Accessed January 20, 2010, at http://www.abh-ace.org/expor/centre-information/statistiques/ Coal.—E.ON AG of announced that it intended to chiffres-mois/2008_fr/evol12_fr.html.) Emporiki Bank of Greece S.A., 2009, Country trading profiles—Belgium: sell more than 2,200 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity Emporiki Bank of Greece S.A. (Accessed January 19, 2010, at from German power stations to Electrabel S.A. and EnBW AG http://www.emporikitrade.com/uk/countries-trading-profiles/belgium/ only a few weeks after receiving the European Commission’s economic-indicators.) approval. Upon completion of the transaction, E.ON would E.ON AG., 2008, E.On to sell generation capacity to competitors: E.ON AG., December 17. (Accessed January 20, 2010, at http://www.eon.com/en/media/ acquire from Electrabel the 556-MW-capacity Langerlo coal-fired news-detail.jsp?id=8934&year=2008.) power station and the Vilvoorde gas-fired power station, plus Krawitz, Avi, 2008, Belgium’s Oct. polished exports -4%, rough imports an additional 770 MW of power procurement rights from other -32%: Diamonds.net, November 12. (Accessed January 20, 2010, at plants. In return, Electrabel would acquire from E.ON stakes in http://www.diamonds.net/news/Newsitem.aspx?ArticleID=24069.) N.V. Umicore S.A., 2009, Fact sheet: N.V. Umicore S.A. (Accessed January 20, 2010, the coal-fired power stations in Zolling (449-MW capacity) and at http://tools.euroland.com/factsheet/b-unim/factsheethtml.asp.) Farge (350-MW capacity), as well as access to the generating Nyrstar N.V., 2009, Nyrstar announces 2008 annual results: Nyrstar N.V., capacity of other plants (E.ON AG, 2008). February 27, 23 p. (Accessed January 19, 2010, at http://www.nyrstar.com/ Natural Gas.—Russian energy giant OAO Gazprom received nyrstar/en/investors/reports/2009/FY08/FY08Release.pdf.) Ponthus, Julien, 2008, ArcelorMittal, Belgium in CO2 deal for blast furnace: permission from the Belgian authorities to supply natural gas to Reuters, February 1. (Accessed January 21, 2010, at http://www.reuters.com/ the country’s major industrial enterprises. Belgium is the third article/idUSBRE00129520080201.) country after Britain and to grant Gazprom a license to Power Engineering, 2008, Electrabel to build the largest onshore wind farm in supply natural gas to major industrial consumers. Belgium has Belgium: Power Engineering, January 31. (Accessed January 19, 2010, at http://pepei.pennnet.com/articles/article_display.cfm?ARTICLE_ID=318776&p= no proven natural gas reserves and it was forced to import about 6§ion=ARCHI&subsection=none&c=PRODJ&page=1.) 16.4 billion cubic meters of gas for domestic consumption each RIA Novosti, 2008, Gazprom receives permission for industrial gas supplies year. Gazprom would be a significant competitor to Belgium’s to Belgium: RIA Novosti, May 25. (Accessed September 28, 2009, at Distrigas SA and France’s Gaz de France, which were the http://en.rian.ru/business/20080520/107837507.html.) Schwarz, Stefan, 2008, ArcelorMittal inaugurates Arceo (Belgium): ArcelorMittal, leading suppliers of natural gas to the Belgian market (RIA January 24. (Accessed January 20, 2010, at http://www.arcelormittal.tv/ Novosti, 2008). 2008/01/24/-inaugurates-arceo-belgium/.) Renewable Energy.— Electrabel planned to build the World Steel Association, 2009, World steel in figures: Brussels, Belgium, World largest onshore wind farm in Belgium. The municipalities Steel Association, 28 p. of Gingelom, Hannuit, Helecine, Landen, Lincent, and Saint Truiden signed an agreement with Electrabel to invest jointly LUXEMBOURG in this, the largest wind power project in Belgium so far. The wind farm would have 20 turbines, each with a capacity of 2 to 3 MW, for a total of 40 to 50 MW of capacity. Once the wind Minerals in the National Economy farm is completed, it was expected to produce between 100,000 and 140,000 megawatthours per year of electricity (Power In 2007, Luxembourg’s mineral industry comprised mainly Engineering, 2008). mineral information systems, mineral trading, and raw materials processing. Because Luxembourg is a member of the Belgium Outlook Luxembourg Economic Union (BLEU), trade statistics for Luxembourg are inextricably linked with those of Belgium and, Belgium is expected to remain a significant mineral processor therefore, cannot be listed individually. International trade data and major diamond trader in the world. It is also expected to for Belgium and Luxembourg are given in the Belgium section remain significant in international and intra-European cargo of this chapter. The iron and steel industry was Luxembourg’s handling of mineral products through its major ports. The four most important mineral industry sector, and steel was the ports in Flanders (Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, and Zeebrugge), country’s main export commodity. which are all located within 100 kilometers (km) of each other, are leading players in international and intra-European cargo Production handling and are expected to remain so. The Port of Antwerp is a particularly important link in the chain of international Mining in Luxembourg was represented by small industrial mineral operations that produced material only for domestic

5.2 u.s. geologicAl survey minerals yearbook—2008 consumption. These minerals included dolomite, limestone, sand Luxembourg’s mineral industry. ARBED was the major and gravel, and slate. Information on these operations was not producer of crude steel, pig iron, and stainless steel, all of readily available. Some commodity production data are in table 1. which were produced from imported material. The company specialized in the production of large structural beams and Structure of the Mineral Industry value-added products (ArcelorMittal, 2009).

The principal mineral facilities in Luxembourg with their Outlook locations and capacities are listed in table 2. Most facilities were privately owned. Luxembourg is expected to continue to be a producer and exporter of steel. The country’s industrial mineral production Commodity Review will likely be limited to domestic consumption.

Metals References Cited

Iron and Steel.— ArcelorMittal is headquartered in ArcelorMittal, 2009, History of ARBED: ArcelorMittal. (Accessed Luxembourg. It is the largest steel manufacturer in the world September 28, 2009, at http://www.arcelormittal.com/ index.php?lang=en&page=548.) and is three times larger than its nearest rival, Nippon Steel World Steel Association, 2009, World steel in figures: Luxembourg, World Steel Corp. of (World Steel Association, 2009, p. 8). Association, 28 p. Aciéries Réunies de Burbach-Eich-Dudelange S.A. (ARBED), which was a subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, dominated

Belgium and Luxembourg—2008 5.3 TABLE 1 BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG: PRODUCTION OF MINERAL COMMODITIES1

(Metric tons unless otherwise specified)

Country and commodity 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008e BELGIUM2 Metals: Aluminum, secondary, including unspecified metalse 100 100 125 125 125 Arsenic, whitee 1,200 ------Bismuth, metale 500 500 500 500 500 Cobalt, primary3 2,947 3,298 2,840 2,825 2,800 Copper: Smelter, secondary 107,700 97,200 114,600 115,200 r 124,500 4 Refined, primary and secondary 383,000 e 382,000 e 382,600 394,400 r 395,800 4 Iron and steel: Pig iron thousand metric tons 8,224 7,254 7,516 6,576 7,000 Steel: Crude do. 11,698 8,906 11,238 10,692 10,700 Hot-rolled products do. 13,269 11,274 12,000 e 12,000 e 12,000 Lead, refined, secondary 63,400 63,400 97,200 e 97,000 e 97,000 Seleniume 200 200 200 200 200 Tin, metal, secondary including alloys 8,900 7,800 7,600 e 8,400 e 9,200 Zinc: Slab: Primary 257,000 222,000 219,800 241,300 239,000 Secondary, possibly remelted zinc 46,000 40,000 40,000 e 40,000 e 40,000 Total 303,000 262,000 259,800 281,300 279,000 Powdere 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 20,000 Industrial minerals: Baritee 27 27 28 28 28 Cement thousand metric tons 7,379 7,594 8,192 9,571 9,500 Clay, kaoline do. 459 460 460 460 460 Lime and dead-burned dolomite, quicklimee do. 2,400 2,300 2,400 2,400 2,400 Nitrogen, N content of ammonia do. 857 890 825 830 e 830 Sodium sulfatee do. 250 250 250 250 250 Stone: Worked 21,649 21,188 18,798 19,000 e 19,000 Natural (excluding slate) 399,246 460,206 336,584 340,000 e 340,000 Sulfur: Byproducts:e Elemental 225,000 225,000 225,000 225,000 225,000 Other forms 175,000 175,000 175,000 175,000 175,000 Total 400,000 400,000 400,000 400,000 400,000 Sulfuric acid thousand metric tons 1,332 1,332 1,393 1,400 e 1,400 Mineral fuels and related materials: Carbon blacke do. 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 Coke, all types do. 3,200 e 2,599 2,895 2,607 2,600 Gas, manufactured thousand cubic meters 340,000 e 472,478 425,504 463,659 463,000 Petroleum refinery products:5 Liquefied petroleum gas thousand 42-gallon barrels 12,304 10,669 10,247 10,968 10,900 Naphtha and white spirit do. 20,540 14,531 11,158 14,356 14,300 Gasoline do. 57,894 50,562 53,570 50,409 50,409 4 Kerosene do. 95,533 13,005 13,512 13,566 13,566 4 Kerosene, other do. -- 500 32,576 25,088 25,000 Distillate fuel oil do. -- 89,056 94,443 95,755 95,700 Refinery gas do. -- 3,682 3,864 3,874 3,800 Residual fuel oil do. 55,811 53,563 47,472 49,227 49,200 Bitumen do. 5,331 6,523 8,520 8,635 8,600 Total do. 247,413 242,091 275,362 271,878 271,000 See footnotes at end of table.

5.4 u.s. geologicAl survey minerals yearbook—2008 TABLE 1—Continued BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG: PRODUCTION OF MINERAL COMMODITIES1

(Metric tons unless otherwise specified)

Country and commodity 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008e LUXEMBOURG Metals, steel: Crude thousand metric tons 2,684 2,194 2,802 2,858 2,600 Hot-rolled products do. 2,801 2,564 2,800 e 2,800 e 2,800 Industrial minerals: Cement, hydraulice 700,000 700,000 700,000 700,000 700,000 Phosphates, Thomas slag:e Gross weight 475,000 475,000 475,000 475,000 475,000

P2O5 content 70,000 70,000 70,000 70,000 70,000 eEstimated; estimated data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown. rRevised. do. Ditto. -- Zero. 1Table includes data available through January 31, 2010. 2In addition to the commodities listed, Belgium produced a number of other metals and alloys, for which only aggregate output figures were available. 3Production reported by N.V. Umicore S.A. includes production from China and South Africa. 4Reported figure. 5Conversion factors from metric tons to 42-gallon barrels for petroleum refinery products are as follows: liquefied petroelum gas—11.6; naphtha and white spirit—8.5; gasoline—10; kerosene—7.75; distillate fuel oil—7.46; refinery gas—8.04; residual fuel oil—6.66; and bitumen—6.06.

Belgium and Luxembourg—2008 5.5 TABLE 2 BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG: STRUCTURE OF THE MINERAL INDUSTRIES IN 2008

(Thousand metric tons unless otherwise specified)

Major operating companies Annual Country and commodity and major equity owners Location of main facilities capacity BELGIUM Cadmium, metal metric tons N.V. Umicore S.A. (Sté. Générale de Belgique, 50.2%) Balen 1,800 Cement Major companies: Plants: 8,400 Do. Cimenteries CBR SA (HeidelbergCement Group) Major plants at Lixhe, (3,200) Mons/Obourg, Harmignies, Marchienne, and Ghent Do.1 Ciments d'Obourg SA (Holcim Group) Plants at Obourg and Thieu (2,800) Do. Compagnie des Ciment Belge (Ciments Francais S.A.) Plant at Gaurain-Ramecroix (2,400)

Cobalt metric tons N.V. Umicore S.A. (Sté. Générale de Belgique, 50.2%) Refinery at Olen 500 Copper do. Smelter at Antwerp-Hoboken 50 Do. do. Refinery at Olen 330 Do. Metallo-Chimique NV Smelter at Beerse 80 Dolomite SA Dolomeuse (Group Lhoist) Quarry at Marche les Dames 500 Do. do. Plant at Marche les Dames 750 Do. SA de Marche-les-Dames (Group Lhoist) Quarries at Nameche 3,000 Do. do. Plant at Nameche 3,000 Do. SA Dolomies de Merlemont (Group Lhoist) Quarry at Philippeville 100 Lead, metal Nyrstar S.A. Smelter at Antwerp-Hoboken 90 Do. do. Refinery at Antwerp-Hoboken 125 Limestone Carmeuse S.A. (Long View Investment NV) Mines and plant at Engis 1,850 Do. do. Mines and plant at Frasnes 450 Do. do. Mines and plant at Maizeret 850 Do. do. Mines and plant at Moha 800 Do. SA Transcar (Royal Volker Stevin) Mines and plant at Maizeret 850 Petroleum, refined 42-gallon Companies: Refineries, of which: berrels per day Total S.A. Refinery at Antwerp 268,000 Do. do. SA Esso NV do. 239,000 Do. do. Nynas Petroleum NV do. 125,000 Do. do. Belgian Refining Corp. do. 80,000 Do. do. Petroplus Refining Antwerp NV do. 55,000 Salt Zoutman NV Plant at Roeselare 200 Sand, silica SRC-Sibelco SA Mines and plants at Lommel, Mol, 500 and Maasmechelen Steel Companies: Plants: 14,000 Do. Cockerill Sambre SA (Government of Wallonia, Plants at Liege and Charleroi (5,000) 80%) Do. Sidmar NV (Belgian Government, 28.24%, and Plant at Ghent (3,960) ArcelorMittal Group, 71.76%) Do. Usines Gustave Boël NV Plant at La Louviere (2,020) Do. Forges de Clabecq SA Plant at Clabecq (1,500) Do. SA Fabrique de Fer de Charleroi Plant at Charleroi (600) Do. ALZ NV Plant at Genk-Zuid (360) Do. New Tubemeuse (NTW) SA Plant at Flemalle (300) Zinc, metal Nyrstar S.A. Smelter and refinery at Balen 450 LUXEMBOURG Cement SA des Ciments Luxembourgeois [Aciéries Réunies de Plant at Esch-sur-Alzette 450 Burbach-Eich-Dudelange S.A. (ARBED), 50.2%, and Sté. Générale de Belgique, 25%] Do. Intermoselle SARL [Aciéries Réunies de Plant at Rumelange 1,000 Burbach-Eich-Dudelange S.A. (ARBED), 33%] Steel Aciéries Réunies de Burbach-Eich-Dudelange S.A. Plants at Differdange, Dudelange, 5,320 (ARBED) (ArcelorMittal) Esch-Belval, Esch-Schifflange Do. Differdange SA (ArcelorMittal) Plant at Differdange 1,200 Do. Ugine & ALZ Carnox (ArcelorMittal) do. 1,000 Do., do. Ditto. 1Includes the capacity of the company SA Ciments de Haccourt.

5.6 u.s. geologicAl survey minerals yearbook—2008