Salzgitter supplying green steel to white goods maker BSH

German steelmaker Salzgitter struck a supply deal with Germany-headquartered white goods manufacturer BSH Hausgerate for the delivery of low carbon emissions steel as BSH is decarbonizing its value chain, Salzgitter and BSH said in a joint press note Sept. 16.

The steel, with a first load shipped out in September, will initially be used for mounting brackets in washing machine production at BSH’s Lodz plant in Poland, reducing BSH’s carbon footprint by 66%.

A Salzgitter spokesperson told S&P Global Platts that the shipped volumes to BSH were test volumes and the initial tonnages would be in the two-digit range.

Salzgitter told Platts that further volume increases would depend on market development dominated by customers’ purchasing strategies.

“The maximum possible production is less limited by equipment performance but rather the more challenging production logistics. That’s why we can’t give a specific maximum production capacity at the moment,” said the spokesperson.

Salzgitter said the aim is to produce 2 million mt of low carbon emissions steel by 2025.

According to the press release, BSH’s development and manufacturing processes at its worldwide locations have been CO2 neutral since the end of 2020.

Race to reduce CO2 footprint under Scope 3 by 2030

“In comparison with 2018, we want to shave 15% off our Scope 3 CO2 footprint generated by procuring raw materials and parts, as well as through household appliance usage,” said BSH Chief Operations Officer Silke Maurer.

“We are now looking very carefully at areas where we have less of a direct impact, such as the production of raw materials and the recycling of products, for instance,” Maurer added.

BSH’s brand portfolio includes appliance brands such as Bosch, Siemens, Gaggenau and Neff.

Salzgitter’s EAF-based subsidiary Peiner Trager produces a range of long steel and special products and has supplied EAF-based slabs to Salzgitter Flachstahl for producing lower-emissions flat steel.

Salzgitter’s overall crude steel capacity is 7 million mt/year and plans to gradually replace blast furnaces from the middle of this decade through 2045 with DRI plants, initially fueled by natural gas and later hydrogen.

Going forward, hydrogen production and new EAFs are to be operated exclusively using renewable power, allowing carbon emissions from steel production to be reduced by 95% by 2045.

— Laura Varriale