Finnish stainless steel producer Outokumpu has inaugurated a new €30 million biocoke agglomeration plant at its integrated Tornio production site in northern Finland, enabling the company to replace fossil coke in ferrochrome production and reduce direct CO₂ emissions.
In a statement released on Aug. 14, Outokumpu said the plant processes biochar into biocoke, a biomass-based substitute for fossil coke used in ferrochrome smelting. The company said the facility could reduce direct CO₂ emissions by up to 82,000 mt/year when operating at full capacity, equivalent to the annual emissions of about 8,000 Finnish citizens.
The company did not disclose the plant’s biocoke production capacity beyond the stated potential emissions reduction.
“This investment is a concrete step forward in our efforts to reduce the climate impact of our operations,” Juha Erkkilä, head of Outokumpu EvoCarbon, said in a company statement. “Biocoke production has already started in Tornio, and biocoke has been produced both for our own use and for external customers.”
The investment supports Outokumpu’s target to cut CO₂ emissions across its value chain by 42% by 2030 from a 2016 baseline. The company said biocoke is a key tool for reducing the intensity of direct emissions from ferrochrome production, and it linked the Tornio project to its broader strategy to develop lower-carbon stainless steel.
Outokumpu’s Tornio site is an integrated production complex for stainless steel and ferrochrome. The company’s ferrochrome operations are supported by the EU’s only chrome mine in Kemi and an integrated ferrochrome smelter in Tornio, according to a June investor presentation.
Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed Premium Low Vol Hard Coking Coal FOB Australia up $1/metric ton at $224.90/mt Aug. 13, while the CFR China price was also assessed up $1/mt at $244/mt.
Author: Euan Sadden
