But premiums held steady and Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment of the green steel, domestic, flat-rolled, differential to HRC index, exw Northern Europe was again steady at €100-200 ($106-212) per tonne on Thursday, unchanged since September 5.
Premium offers for steel compliant with Scope 1 and 2 (direct) and Scope 3 (indirect) greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) came in at €200-350 per tonne, according to sources.
But bids for the same material were heard at €80-150 per tonne during the assessment week.
One supplier told Fastmarkets it had rejected a bid at €80 per tonne for 25 tonnes of carbon-neutral (Scope 1 and 2 direct emissions) flat steel because “going below €150 per tonne for such material would not be commercially viable.”
Sources said that, in addition to the high premiums, the lack of public projects in Europe – projects that could insist on green steel procurement – and the lack of stimulus measures to encourage “going green,” were limiting demand for green steel.
“Decarbonization is great and buying steel with reduced carbon content is great; it’s just not affordable when many companies are fighting for survival in a tough market,” a buyer source in Germany told Fastmarkets.
The EU Steel Action plan, published by the European steel industry association Eurofer and European trade union IndustriAll earlier this week, calls for a coordinated approach and makes the case for measures to protect domestic steelmakers during the so-called “green transition.
“Demand for low-CO2 steel should be stimulated through public procurement and in public auctions… A well-recognized labelling system for green steel should be developed by the industry and stakeholders, to be used as a benchmark and reference,” the report says.
In the report, Eurofer and IndustriAll stress the fact that stimulus packages at member-state and EU level are essential to support developments in steelmaking and should include creating and promoting the key markets that will drive demand for green steel made in Europe.
