SSAB has entered an agreement with US autopart maker Shape Corp. for the use of its fossil-free steel in automotive applications.
Shape will be testing SSAB’s HYBRIT-produced steel in the manufacture of crash management and body structure systems, SSAB said June 21. This marks the steelmaker’s first partnership for fossil-free steel in the US.
HYBRIT, or Hydrogen Breakthrough Ironmaking Technology, was created in 2016 with the goal of developing a technology for fossil-free iron and steelmaking. The project produced its first steel in late 2021 and aims to be supplying the market with zero-carbon emissions steel at a commercial scale by 2026. SSAB plans to largely eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from its own operations by 2030-45.
“Demand for fossil-free steel is increasing, which is one of the reasons for SSAB to bring forward its green transition with the ambition to largely eliminate carbon dioxide emissions around 2030,” SSAB CEO Martin Lindqvist said in a statement.
Shape has committed to reducing its global carbon emissions 30% by 2030 and to be fully carbon free by 2035.
— Justine Coyne
