EUROMETAL brought together the Nordic Distributors

This Regional Meeting Nordics, co-organized in collaboration with the Swedish National Federation Stål- och Metallföreningen, brought together in Stockholm around 50 distributors, traders and service centers active in the Nordic countries.

The event began with an introduction of the current context by the chairman of Ståloch Metallföreningen, Magnus Bosson. As would be expected, topics such as the impact of European sanctions on Russia and the fall in Ukrainian production were not left unaddressed, as were the increase in energy costs, rising inflation, high interest rates and the safeguards imposed by the European Commission.

Matthew Watkins, Principal Analyst at CRU Group, presented the European & Nordics Steel Market Outlook, while Maria Tanatar, Senior Editor, EMEA Ferrous Metals at S&P Global Platts, introduced the evolution of European flat steel prices. This first session was concluded by the EU Steel Trade Cases and Steel Safeguard Measures, presented by Xiaoyi Tang, partner at the law firm Dentons Europe LLP.

After an intense first session, John Armstrong, CEO and founder of Reibus International presented the advantages of digitalization and online trading in the distribution supply chain.

In a region where safety is key, Mattias Lafvas, health and safety engineer at NCC and
Björne Karlsson, director at the safety park, exposed the Swedish project Byggbranschens Säkerhetspark that promotes safety learning through in-depth training.
The second session was concluded by Mark Bula, CCO at H2 Green Steel, presenting the ongoing construction of their steel plant in Boden and their decarbonization targets for the steel industry.

In the afternoon, the agenda followed up with an eloquent presentation by Helge Runer, CEO at Norsk Stål, awakening about the bad image of Steel as a “worst-performer” from a “dirty and old industry” representing 7% of total emissions and the need to unite and cooperate to make it a desired and required product.
Jaap-Jan Aardenburg, distribution marketing manager at Tata Steel Europe, presented Tata’s Zeramis brand and the transformation of IJmuiden integrated site introducing Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) technology, processed with green hydrogen in direct connection to an offshore wind farm.
This session was concluded by Thomas Hörnfeldt, Vice President Sustainability & Public Affairs at SSAB that explained their HYBRIT pilot and demonstration plant aiming to produce fossil-free steel in 2026.

The event ended with a pannel discussion about the challenges of Nordic steel distribution.
Moderated by Håkan Magnusson, CEO of Celsa Steel Service, the panel was attended by
Hans Svensson, Vice President and marketing manager at Stena Stål, Magnus Bosson, Managing Director at BE Group Sverige, Richard Ralsgård, CEO at ArcelorMittal BE Group SSC and Staffan Ekstrand, Manager ArcelorMittal Flat Carbon Europe.