Environment

SSAB is committed to minimizing the negative environmental impact of its operations and to largely eliminating fossil carbon dioxide emissions from its own operations.

Reduce CO2 emissions

More than 90% of SSAB’s direct carbon dioxide emissions come from our Nordic iron ore-based steel production, mainly from our plants in Luleå, Oxelösund and Raahe. Emissions occur when coal and coke are used as reducing agents. There are limited opportunities to further reduce carbon dioxide emissions from current steelmaking processes, which is the reason behind SSAB’s plan to convert the Nordic plants into electro-steel plants. SSAB’s ambition is to largely eliminate all CO2 emissions from its own operations.

CO₂-efficient steel production

SSAB’s blast furnace-based production is one of the most CO2-efficient in the world, thanks to the use of high-quality iron ore pellets and coke, and efficient processes. In a comparison, our blast furnace-based production of cold rolled steel emits an estimated 6% less carbon dioxide than the European average, and as much as 17% less than the average in China. In the US, our scrap-based steel mills with electric arc furnaces use close to 100% recycled steel as raw material, resulting in much lower direct CO2 emissions than is the case with iron ore-based steel production.