World Steel Association organized its inaugural Open Forum in Brussels on 4-5 October, which aimed to engage with stakeholders in the steelmaking ecosystem, including equipment manufacturers, suppliers, international organizations and academia, and to discuss issues related to the steel industry’s Decarbonization transition. Worldsteel’s Head, Environment and Climate Change Ms Åsa Ekdahl wrote in a blog “It was very well attended with excellent presentations, very active participants, and constructive discussions. The agenda focused on enabling conditions, and most speakers were external from many different parts of the steel ecosystem including international initiatives, NGOs, suppliers and consultancies.” Mr Sajjan Jindal, Chairman and Managing Director, JSW Steel Limited and worldsteel Chair set the scene in opening session, sending a clear message that the steel industry is committed to Decarbonization action. Lord Adair Turner, Chair, Energy Transitions Commission gave an overview of the global Decarbonization context that steel industry has to operate in. ArcelorMittal, China Baowu Steel Group and Ovako AB, three of worldsteel’s member companies, detailed a number of their current projects and strategies going forward. BHP, one of the world’s largest iron ore miners, OGCI Climate Investments, and Woodside Energy all gave their perspectives on how we can move this close cooperation forward. Conclusions There is now a relatively large number of reports and roadmaps trying to describe what the transition might look like, spanning from the IEA’s Iron and Steel Technology Roadmap issued in 2019 all the way to the Mission Possible Partnership’s strategy document, Making Net-zero Steel Possible, published in September this year. It is clear that these roadmaps have very similar key messages, including the need for breakthrough technology not yet available. There is also massive resource implications e.g. renewable energy, regional differences in technology and policy options depending on local circumstances, and the need for a new level of partnerships between all actors in the steel ecosystem. From the sessions on worldsteel member company activities and partnerships it was evident that the transition is under way both within steel companies and in the supply chain, but that challenges still remain for example in linking demand from customers and their willingness to pay a premium for low-carbon steel. The clearest message from the two days was the call for common methodologies and clear definitions of low-carbon steel production and products. Many of the international initiatives need definitions for tracking and target setting and we now have many definitions all looking quite similar but differing in important details. The one that is quoted the most is the definition for near-zero steel production from the IEA, as requested by the German G7 Presidency, Achieving Net Zero Heavy Industry Sectors in G7 Members, published in May of this year. It makes use of a sliding scale for scrap input into the steel making process and links this to the emissions from steel production. There seems to be a growing consensus that this approach could be suitable for policy application that focuses on the production of steel as it brings together all production routes in one approach. However, it is not suitable for products since it focuses on the steel production itself and does not cover product specific processes such as rolling and coating. Products are likely to need a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach.
World Steel Association organized its inaugural Open Forum in Brussels on 4-5 October, which aimed to engage with stakeholders in the steelmaking ecosystem, including equipment manufacturers, suppliers, international organizations and academia, and to discuss issues related to the steel industry’s Decarbonization transition. Worldsteel’s Head, Environment and Climate Change Ms Åsa Ekdahl wrote in a blog “It was very well attended with excellent presentations, very active participants, and constructive discussions. The agenda focused on enabling conditions, and most speakers were external from many different parts of the steel ecosystem including international initiatives, NGOs, suppliers and consultancies.” Mr Sajjan Jindal, Chairman and Managing Director, JSW Steel Limited and worldsteel Chair set the scene in opening session, sending a clear message that the steel industry is committed to Decarbonization action. Lord Adair Turner, Chair, Energy Transitions Commission gave an overview of the global Decarbonization context that steel industry has to operate in. ArcelorMittal, China Baowu Steel Group and Ovako AB, three of worldsteel’s member companies, detailed a number of their current projects and strategies going forward. BHP, one of the world’s largest iron ore miners, OGCI Climate Investments, and Woodside Energy all gave their perspectives on how we can move this close cooperation forward. Conclusions There is now a relatively large number of reports and roadmaps trying to describe what the transition might look like, spanning from the IEA’s Iron and Steel Technology Roadmap issued in 2019 all the way to the Mission Possible Partnership’s strategy document, Making Net-zero Steel Possible, published in September this year. It is clear that these roadmaps have very similar key messages, including the need for breakthrough technology not yet available. There is also massive resource implications e.g. renewable energy, regional differences in technology and policy options depending on local circumstances, and the need for a new level of partnerships between all actors in the steel ecosystem. From the sessions on worldsteel member company activities and partnerships it was evident that the transition is under way both within steel companies and in the supply chain, but that challenges still remain for example in linking demand from customers and their willingness to pay a premium for low-carbon steel. The clearest message from the two days was the call for common methodologies and clear definitions of low-carbon steel production and products. Many of the international initiatives need definitions for tracking and target setting and we now have many definitions all looking quite similar but differing in important details. The one that is quoted the most is the definition for near-zero steel production from the IEA, as requested by the German G7 Presidency, Achieving Net Zero Heavy Industry Sectors in G7 Members, published in May of this year. It makes use of a sliding scale for scrap input into the steel making process and links this to the emissions from steel production. There seems to be a growing consensus that this approach could be suitable for policy application that focuses on the production of steel as it brings together all production routes in one approach. However, it is not suitable for products since it focuses on the steel production itself and does not cover product specific processes such as rolling and coating. Products are likely to need a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach.
