Klöckner & Co delivers first green steel to Mercedes-Benz

Germany-based independent steel and metals distributor Klockner & Co has delivered its first green steel coil to Mercedes-Benz, it said Sept. 13.

The coil weighs around 20 mt and is “significantly carbon-reduced steel”, the company said.

Emissions from the extraction to the production process were less than 500 kg of carbon per ton of steel, more than 80% lower than the average of around 2.5 mt of carbon per ton of steel produced using a blast furnace, it said in a statement.

The coil was delivered under the company’s new Nexigen brand to the Mercedes-Benz Kuppenheim plant.

Carmakers are increasingly turning to deals with steelmakers that allow them to procure green steel in order to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. In particular, Mercedes-Benz plans to continue to shift from conventional to green steel in raw material procurement as part of its Ambition 2039 plan.

Klöckner & Co’s Nexigen brand will serve as an umbrella for the entire portfolio of the company’s sustainable products and services. Under the Nexigen brand, the company aims to “provide transparent, carbon-reduced solutions in the three categories of materials, processing and logistics.”

“Our customers are increasingly asking for sustainable steel solutions, Guido Kerkhoff, CEO of Klöckner & Co SE said. “Nexigen means they can easily and reliably source green steel and metal products. With additional advisory services, we are also helping them to make their supply chains significantly more sustainable and make their progress in decarbonization transparent.”

Platts assessed hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe on Sept. 12 at Eur760/mt ($769.88/mt) ex-works Ruhr, unchanged on the day, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.

— Annalisa Villa