Germany’s Saarstahl and Dillinger secure €1.7 billion financing for Power4Steel green steel project
German long-steel producer Saarstahl and German plate producer Dillinger Group, both subsidiaries of Stahl-Holding-Saar (SHS), have announced that they have secured €1.7 billion in financing for their Power4Steel transformation program. The financing ensures full funding for the entire project, enabling SHS to advance large-scale hydrogen-based steelmaking and reach ambitious carbon-reduction milestones.
The Power4Steel initiative involves constructing a direct reduction (DRI) plant and two electric arc furnaces (EAFs) at SHS’s Dillingen and Völklingen sites. These facilities will replace existing blast furnaces and converters, marking SHS’s shift toward hydrogen-based low-carbon steel production.
The €1.7 billion package was arranged through a consortium of leading national and international banks.
It includes:
- export credit agency (ECA) support from OeKB (Austria) and SACE (Italy),
- equity contributions from SHS, and
- direct financial aid from the German federal government and the Saarland regional government under the €2.6 billion transformation program for the Saarland steel industry.
Key environmental targets as part of the Power4Steel project include:
- around 55 percent carbon emissions reduction by 2030,
- full climate neutrality by 2045.
Once operational, SHS aims to become the largest producer of green steel within its peer group, anchoring the Saarland’s transformation into a low-carbon industrial region.
Dillinger offers Defender plate from stock
Dillinger has made its comprehensive product range of highly specialised security and armour steels available from stock through its distribution subsidiary Ancofer, the German mill informs Kallanish.
Its Defender steels have been used in the defence and security industry for many years. They are approved for use by the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) standards in thicknesses of 6-150 mm, combining high toughness combined with exceptional hardness, Dillinger says.
Dillinger’s subsidiary, Ancofer Stahlhandel in Mülheim an der Ruhr, has taken Defender in stock as part of its list of products. “This will enable us to provide customers with tailor-made deliveries, even for short-term requirements, and strengthen our position in this growing market,” says Danny van der Hout, chief dales officer at Dillinger.
The steels are made at both the company’s production sites in Dillingen, Germany and Dunkirk, France. They are available in nine different grades in thicknesses ranging from 6 mm to 150mm and hardnesses from (Briness measures) 270 HB to 600 HB.
According to Dillinger, they are used for highest safety requirements: from civilian or military special protection vehicles on land and water to cash-in-transit vehicles and building protection. The new offer comes in reaction to the threat of “wars, crises and conflicts in our neighbourhood, to the security of Germany and Europe,” van der Hout says.
Christian Koehl Germany
German steel group receives permits for green steel production plants
German Stahl-Holding-Saar Group and its subsidiaries German steel plate producer Dillinger, long steel producer Saarstahl, and its subsidiary ROGESA have obtained federal permits for constructing a direct reduction plant and two electric arc furnace plants in Dillingen and Völklingen. The permits mark a major milestone in their transition to green steel production.
The direct reduction plant in Dillingen will supply both production sites with reduced iron pellets, while the electric arc furnaces will convert these pellets into CO2-reduced steel using scrap metal. The facilities are central components of the Power4Steel decarbonization project, making the companies the first German steelmakers to receive operating licenses for such equipment.
Stefan Rauber, CEO of Dillinger and Saarstahl, said the permits bring the company closer to achieving CO2 neutrality by 2045, with 70 percent of the production volume expected to be CO2-reduced by the early 2030s. The approval process benefited from early public engagement and cooperation with state authorities.
The Power4Steel project aims to establish climate-friendly steel production in Germany’s Saarland region through advanced environmental technologies.
Dillinger develops new steels for offshore towers
Dillinger has developed new steel types suited for monopiles, the steel towers for offshore wind turbines, Kallanish learns from the platemaker.
The research was carried out with materials scientists from Saarland University, mechanical engineers from RWTH Aachen University, and other partners in high-performance steel plate project.
The properties of the new steels enable them to withstand storms, waves and aggressive saltwater for many years, yet can still be produced economically, Dillinger says. They are suited for high-energy submerged arc welding and electron beam welding, which significantly shortens production times for processors.
“These high-performance welding processes are increasingly being used in large-scale industrial production for welding-intensive steel applications,” says Sebastian Scholl, Dillinger’s research and development project manager.
“Particularly in the case of monopiles, joints stretching for kilometres are required due to the huge size of the structures with large sheet thicknesses. Such a process requires materials that can withstand the enormous temperature influences during the joining process,” he explains.
The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and recently concluded after almost four years.
Christian Koehl Germany
Dillinger and Vattenfall sign MOU on wind projects
Platemaker Dillinger and energy group Vattenfall Europe Windkraft have signed a declaration of intent to accelerate the use of CO2-reduced steel in future wind projects.
For Dillinger, creating early demand for CO2-reduced steel is crucial to advancing investment in this technology and the decarbonisation of the steel industry, Kallanish hears from the steelmaker.
“We are investing around €4.6 billion ($4.8 billion) in the decarbonisation of our German production sites with the support of the federal and state governments,” says Stefan Rauber, Dillinger ceo.
“The fact that Vattenfall wants to implement its ambitious climate targets with this steel indicates to us the demand for CO2-reduced steel and gives us momentum for our Power4Steel decarbonisation project.”
“The use of CO2-reduced steel, especially in our offshore wind farms, is an important lever in achieving our sustainability goal,” says Samira Barakat, vice president of partnerships and business transformation at Vattenfall.
Christian Koehl Germany
US confirms AD determination on French plate
The US Department of Commerce has settled upon an antidumping margin of 0.0% for cut-to-length carbon and steel plate from French producer Dillinger France.
The determination is consistent with Commerce’s preliminary assessment, Kallanish learns from the Federal Register.
Commerce found that during the period of review, May 2022 through April 2023, the producer made no shipments.
The subject products under review fall into the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the US (HTSUS) subheadings 7208.40.3030, 7208.40.3060, 7208.51.0030, 7208.51.0045, 7208.51.0060, 7208.52.0000, 7211.13.0000, 7211.14.0030, 7211.14.0045, 7225.40.1110, 7225.40.1180, 7225.40.3005, 7225.40.3050, 7226.20.0000, 7226.91.5000, 7208.40.6060, 7208.53.0000, 7208.90.0000, 7210.70.3000, 7210.90.9000, 7211.19.1500, 7211.19.2000, 7211.19.4500, 7211.19.6000, 7211.19.7590, 7211.90.0000, 7212.40.1000, 7212.40.5000, 7212.50.0000, 7214.10.0000, 7214.30.0010, 7214.30.0080, 7214.91.0015, 7214.91.0060, 7214.91.0090, 7225.11.0000, 7225.19.0000, 7225.40.5110, 7225.40.5130, 7225.40.5160, 7225.40.7000, 7225.99.0010, 7225.99.0090, 7226.11.1000, 7226.11.9060, 7226.19.1000, 7226.19.9000, 7226.91.0500, 7226.91.1530, 7226.91.1560, 7226.91.2530, 7226.91.2560, 7226.91.7000, 7226.91.8000 and 7226.99.0180.
Kristen DiLandro USA
Dillinger, Sif team up to make monopiles fully circular low carbon
German steel producer Dillinger has signed an addendum to an existing deal with design engineering company Sif to supply its lower-emission heavy-plate steel for offshore wind foundations, the companies said May 16.
By signing the “green steel” addendum to the plate supply framework agreement, Dillinger and Sif said they have detailed the transition to supplying low carbon steel plates for Sif’s new and enhanced XXXL monopile factory, with the deal aiming to achieve full circularity of the monopiles.
“This agreement is key to decarbonizing materials such as steel. With this addendum and the MoU between Sif Decom and Dillinger, the partners support development of lower-emission steel manufacturing and circularity of materials used in offshore wind foundations,” Sif CEO Fred van Beers said.
“We are very proud of this future-focused collaboration with Sif,” Dillinger chair Stefan Rauber said. “Our steel plates from Dillinger, which in future will be produced with reduced CO2 emissions, are the basis for monopiles and wind farms where renewable energies are generated.”
Starting in 2027/2028, SHS and its subsidiaries Dillinger, Saarstahl and ROGESA plan to produce up to 3.5 million mt/year CO2-reduced steel under the PURE STEEL+ brand. By 2045, the entire production volume of the company’s crude steel is set to be carbon-neutral.
Many companies in different industries across the steel value chain are buying increasing volumes of low-carbon “green” steel to reduce their scope 2 and 3 emissions, closing offtake supply agreements to secure low-carbon raw materials.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, launched its carbon-accounted price assessments in May 2023, following the market trend of strengthening lower-carbon steel demand.
Platts assessed Northwest European hot-rolled carbon-accounted coil stable on the day at Eur765/mt ($832/mt) ex-works Ruhr on May 15.
The assessment was calculated in line with the sum of Platts daily carbon-accounted steel premium (CASP) assessment and Platts daily hot-rolled coil price assessment in Northwest Europe.
Annalisa Villa
