ArcelorMittal to expand certified low emissions steel beam sales in Germany

Steelmaker ArcelorMittal said Jan. 20 it is offering more certified recycled and renewably produced long steel products in Germany and will expand accessibility to using online sales later this year.

ArcelorMittal said in a statement it is increasing availability of its XCarb-branded steel beams, which is stated at 333 kg of CO2 per ton of finished product including raw materials supply and transportation.

The company referred to a published environmental product declaration for XCarb recycled and renewably produced structural sections and merchant bars, published by Institut Bauen und Umwelt, which states 1.1631 mt of scrap is used to produce 1 mt of finished steel.

The beams offered from its Essen Downstream Solutions center are in the following dimensions: HE100 to HE300, IPE180 to IPE600 in grades S235JR+M and S355J2+M.

The XCarb beams, made at ArcelorMittal Differdange in Luxembourg, are the first to offer a guarantee of 100% recycled steel scrap and 100% renewable electricity from solar and wind projects in its production, it said.

Long steel products are typically produced via ferrous scrap in electric arc furnaces, with power supplied through various generation sources and rolled and processed into finished sizes and grades. Some producers are becoming more interested around upstream raw materials and transportation emissions, certifying energy supplies, and carbon prices and markets for industry benchmarking.

“In Germany, the demand for low-CO2 products is growing, as climate change mitigation has become the most important challenge of the 21st century,” the company said.

Downstream Solutions supplies mainly steel for construction to distributors and construction partners and usually handles large requests for major German projects from Essen, including projects requesting XCarb beams, it said.

“The volume we have stocked now will help us to take the first step with our customers, leading the way in a sustainable direction,” said Oliver Menrath, managing director of Downstream Solutions Germany. “While the XCarb brand is now only available through traditional sales, we also plan to sell these low-CO2 beams through our e-steel platform later this year, becoming the first in the market to offer low-emissions steel online.”

XCarb brands all ArcelorMittal’s carbon reduced and zero carbon steel product offering. In addition to recycled and renewably produced steel, ArcelorMittal offers to sell blast furnace-based steel with XCarb green steel certificates, which include CO2 savings made by the group an independently confirmed by DNV GL.

— Hector Forster