Approval has been granted for SSAB’s new electric arc furnace facility in Luleå
The Swedish Land and Environment Court of Appeal has issued its decision approving SSAB’s permit to build and operate a new steel plant in Luled. With this ruling, the legal uncertainties surrounding the construction of the electric arc furnace (EAF) facility-set to replace the company’s existing blast-furnace-based production site-have now been resolved.
In December 2024, SSAB received approval for the new facility from the Land and Environment Court at the Umeå District Court. The permit allowed the company to secure its long-term competitiveness and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from production by up to 90%. However, the decision was appealed, and the case was brought before the Land and Environment Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal reviewed the parties’ written submissions, issued its ruling, and upheld the original decision. This has cleared the way for SSAB to continue its work on the new facility without interruption, following the activation of part A of the permit in June. A formal groundbreaking ceremony was held in Luleå on 17 September, with Swedish Minister for Energy, Business and Industry Ebba Busch in attendance.
Carl Orrling, SSAB’s President, Chief Technology Officer and Head of the Transformation Office, welcomed the court’s decision, stating: “We are pleased that the Court of Appeal has addressed the unresolved issues relating to the permit for our new steel plant in Luleå. Eliminating this uncertainty provides clarity and stability for our transformation process. The new facility will offer a stronger cost position, a more attractive product range of premium steels, and greater flexibility to manage fluctuations in demand. Once we shut down the existing production, we will virtually eliminate carbon emissions from Luleå.”
In its ruling, the court also emphasized that the site is appropriate for the facility and that electric arc furnaces meet the criteria for “best available technology.” It further noted that emissions monitoring will not be left solely to the supervisory authority but will instead be regulated in detail under the permit. This framework defines not the method of monitoring, but the scope under which it is included in the permit.
Sara Arvidson, SSAB’s Head of Environment and Energy, said the decision gives the project additional momentum: “We are very pleased that the Court of Appeal has approved our permit and that the transformation project can proceed as planned. After commissioning, certain reviews will be carried out during a trial period. We will now continue our work to meet the specified conditions and ensure that the project is implemented responsibly.”
SSAB partners with EAB to expand use of fossil-free steel in industrial applications
Swedish specialty steelmaker SSAB has announced a strategic partnership with Sweden-based EAB Group aimed at supplying fossil-free steel, including SSAB Zero™, for use across the latter’s core business areas such as warehouse fittings, doors and steel-building solutions.
In the partnership, EAB has already adopted SSAB Zero™ in the machine chassis of its warehouse solution, the Radioshuttle™, which is internationally deployed for storage optimization and energy-efficient operation. The collaboration underlines both companies’ shared commitment to accelerate the industrial application of climate-friendly steel products.
EAB’s CEO Per-Åke Andersson said that the partnership symbolizes a unified vision to move steel into a sustainable future, a journey they undertake together.
With this partnership, EAB reinforces its sustainability roadmap which includes halving its carbon emissions over the next decade. The integration of fossil-free steel within its product lines aligns EAB’s manufacturing and supply chain practices with its long-term climate objectives.
Moving forward, the collaboration is expected to drive developments not only in warehouse systems and steel-buildings, but across sectors where high-performance, low-emission steel is demanded. By combining SSAB’s advanced material solutions with EAB’s global manufacturing footprint, the partnership is set to demonstrate scalable industrial deployment of fossil-free steel.
SSAB targets advanced grades, pivots from standard products
Swedish steelmaker SSAB is repositioning away from standard products such as hot rolled coil to focus on advanced and premium grades, president & chief executive Johnny Sjöström said during its Capital Markets Day this week in Oxelösund, attended by Kallanish.
It aims to increase shipments of its premium product offering to 65% by 2030 and 75% by 2035, compared to 55% today. As a result of this, the company expects to produce less standard grade HRC.
“In a world of overcapacity, the only way to be successful is being unique and create unique customer value” Sjöström said.
He noted that other companies who were struggling to make money were now also looking at focusing investments on downstream operations for value-added products. “We have already done that journey” he noted, with the past acquisitions of Tibnor and Ruukki. This gives the company diversification, he added.
“The market has been able to buy extremely cheap material coming from Asia, from China, material has been subsidised, not even covering the cost of variable costs, the raw materials. That is not sustainable,” he said.
The move to premium products will mean less volatility, and less sensitivity to market conditions. This will mean the firm is less dependent on spot prices.
It will now focus on three key areas. It will expand its offering of advanced steel grades, with SSAB Special Steels’ shipments expected to increase by approximately 5% per year until 2030, while SSAB Europe will gradually increase the share of premium products.
Its value-add services and solutions will be supported by subsidiaries Tibnor and Ruukki Construction.
In the third area, decarbonised steel, the steelmaker expects its European division to have shipments of 1 million tonnes/year in five years time. The company notes a premium value of €200-300/tonne ($230-245/t). However, it sees a circa 15% share of SSAB Zero and SSBAB fossil-free products volumes being sold with a premium after the EAF transformation.
It notes a strong demand increase for high-strength steel in past years, which is expected to continue beyond 2030. This is in the sectors of automotive, buildings and infrastructure, and mechanical equipment.
It will achieve the transformation through its planned investments, which include building electric arc furnaces in Oxelösund and Luleå, as well as a new mini at the latter. It has also adjusted its technical footprint for Raahe, away from a mini mill, to an “Oxelösund-like” solution, instead “leveraging Raahe’s existing downstream assets”.
When asked by Kallanish, Sjöström did not disclose a date by when this would happen or the remaining lifespan of the asset, as it was dependent on raw materials supply such as scrap. Having iron ore-based production in Finland will help it to mitigate this risk.
Carrie Bone UK
SSAB to supply Vattenfall with green steel for dam gate
Swedish steelmaker SSAB has signed an agreement with state-owned energy company Vattenfall to supply green steel for a new dam gate, to be the largest and first of its kind globally produced from ironmaking with near-zero fossil carbon emissions.
SSAB said the agreement covers a pilot delivery of 120 tonnes of HYBRIT-produced steel for the new dam gate, produced via electric-arc furnace (EAF) with “fossil-free sponge iron”.
HYBRIT is a joint project between SSAB, Vattenfall, and ironmaker LKAB, seeking to create a fossil-free production chain from raw materials to finished steel, beginning with hydrogen-based direct-reduced iron (H2-DRI) through to green energy-powered EAF steelmaking.
“This is an important step in our shared commitment to reducing carbon emissions. With forward-thinking partners like Vattenfall, we continue to lead the transformation of the steel industry. Our successful collaboration through HYBRIT now demonstrates what we can achieve to reduce the climate footprint across the entire value chain,” said Thomas Hörnfeldt, Vice President of Sustainability at SSAB.
The steelmaker describes its fossil-free steel as a “proof-of-concept for the emission-free materials of the future, demonstrating that it is possible to manufacture large, complex components with a radically reduced climate footprint.”
As European authorities signal that sustainability criteria could be incorporated into public procurement directives or mandates via legislative proposals scheduled for this year, a demonstration of the applicability of low-carbon steel to larger-scale infrastructural developments could advantage SSAB’s HYBRIT steel in this emerging market.
HYBRIT-based renovations and developments are expected to become fully operational, and scale, between 2028-2029, as detailed in McCloskey’s European Green Steel Profile.
Benjamin Steven Journalist, Steel
SSAB postpones Luleå mill amid power delays
SSAB has announced a 12-month delay to the start-up of its new steel mill in Luleå, Sweden. The facility, originally planned to go online by the end of 2028, is now expected to be operational by the end of 2029, Kallanish understands.
The postponement stems from delays in upgrading Sweden’s power transmission infrastructure. Vattenfall Eldistribution, which is tasked with connecting the new mill to the grid, reported that necessary grid reinforcements will not be completed on schedule. The main holdup is linked to modernisation work at the existing Svartbyn grid station, which needs to be completed before the new Hällmyran station—key to SSAB’s connection—can go live, according to SSAB.
According to Vattenfall, Svenska kraftnät, the national grid operator, is facing technical challenges and outage scheduling constraints that have extended the construction timeline for Svartbyn. As a result, the broader grid expansion plan has been pushed back, directly impacting the mill’s timeline.
Despite the delay, SSAB confirmed that the total planned investment of €4.5 billion ($5.17 billion) for the project remains unchanged. The company has begun discussions with Vattenfall Eldistribution and Svenska kraftnät to develop a revised, sustainable timeline for the project moving forward, the company underlines.
Once completed, the Luleå mill will replace SSAB’s existing blast furnace-based production with a cleaner, more energy-efficient steelmaking process, aligning with the company’s transition toward fossil-free steel.
Almost ten days ago, SSAB and Danieli signed a contract under which Danieli will supply a highly automated technology solution for the steelmaker’s new mini mill in Luleå. The new Luleå mini mill will have a capacity of 2.5 million tonnes/year of SSAB’s specialty products, and a cold rolling complex to serve the mobility segment with a broader offering of premium products. It will produce hot-rolled strip in thicknesses ranging from 1.3mm to 25.4mm, in widths of up to 2,100mm and coils of up to 40 tonnes (see Kallanish passim).
Burak Odabasi Turkey
SSAB, Danieli sign contract for new Luleå mini-mill
Swedish steelmaker SSAB and Italian equipment supplier Danieli have signed a contract for the supply of equipment for SSAB’s new mini-mill in Luleå, the companies said on 10 June.
This contract followed an Early Service Agreement (ESA) signed in July 2024.
The new Luleå mill will consist of two electric arc furnaces (EAFs) with a total capacity of 2.5 mt per year, secondary metallurgy, a caster and direct strip rolling mill, and a cold rolling complex.
The mini-mill will produce hot-rolled strip in thicknesses ranging from 1.3 mm to 25.4 mm.
When completed, SSAB will decommission the existing blast furnace-based production system in Luleå. This will reduce Sweden’s CO2 emissions by 7% in addition to the 3% from the Oxelösund mill conversion, SSAB said.
In the second quarter, enquiries for green steel flat products have increased, but actual transactions remained limited. Buyers are apparently also less interested in mass-balanced material, preferring embedded carbon reductions.
McCloskey’s reduced carbon marker, calculated in reference to all green HRC premium indications reported in the week to publication, stood at €60.46/t on 6 June.
Maria Tanatar
SSAB expands production at Italian service centre
SSAB Swedish Steel’s service centre in Ghedi, Italy, is set to expand its production of cut-to-length sheets in higher strength grades while also improving quality.
The steel producer is to upgrade its cut-to-length (CTL) line to start production of higher strength steels with the aim to respond to current and future market demand, Kallanish learns from the company.
The initiative will allow the service centre to provide cut-to-length sheets of enhanced strength grades from coils, including most hot-rolled strip Hardox abrasion-resistant steels and Strenx structural steels.
The current facility processes coils with yield strengths of 700MPa or lower. The works will elevate the capacity to 1350MPa with a thickness of 6.5mm, enabling the cutting of ultra-high strength SSAB coils to any desired length, resulting in enhanced surface quality and flatness.
“The upgraded capacity means SSAB will ship a greater range of steels to Italy as coils, which is faster and more efficient than shipping cut lengths in packaged bundles from Sweden,” a company note says.
It adds that the Ghedi facility, which has a 80,000t/year capacity, will also be better able to handle low-to-mid production volumes in higher strength grades for a variety of sheet lengths.
“The Ghedi cut-to-length (CTL) line can already handle coils as wide as 2050mm, assuring compatibility with SSAB’s future mini-mills, which will be able to produce coils up to 2-meters wide.”
According to FIMI Machinery, which will carry out the upgrade, Ghedi customers are going to notice immediate improvements in their cut steel sheets.
“With three new brushing machines connected to a filtration system, the scale (iron oxide) produced by the straightener and levellers will be extracted to protect workers, machinery, and the environment. There will be less imprints on the surface, which means improved surface quality. And due to better stress removal, the sheets will be flatter, which is key for SSAB Laser grades,” they said,
The upgrade for 2025 is planned to coincide with the centre’s standard maintenance window, which spans from July to September. The equipment is projected to be operational in autumn this year.
Natalia Capra France
SSAB to supply fossil-free steel for construction equipment
SSAB says it has entered into an agreement with global construction equipment manufacturer Putzmeister to supply future fossil-free steel for use in manufacturing products such as concrete pump trucks and concrete mixers.
SSAB and Putzmeister have a long history of partnership and technical cooperation, Kallanish understands. By using SSAB’s Strenx high-strength structural steel and Hardox wear plates, Putzmeister has developed very strong and lightweight truck chassis, pump crane booms and concrete mixer drums. The lighter machines increase machine performance but also reduce carbon footprint, SSAB says.
This agreement replaces conventional steel with steel made via Hybrit technology, developed by SSAB with mining company LKAB and energy company Vattenfall, using green hydrogen and fossil-free electricity.
Christian Koehl Germany
Hybrit green hydrogen-for-steel project completes storage test
Swedish renewable hydrogen-for-steel project Hybrit has completed a hydrogen storage pilot project, with flexible power procurement reducing variable operating costs by up to 31%, the group said Feb. 27.
The Hybrit collaboration between steelmaker SSAB, iron ore miner LKAB and power company Vattenfall said hydrogen production costs could be cut by 25%-40% when the first commercial plants are commissioned.
“The results show that it is technically possible to store fossil-free hydrogen gas for producing fossil-free iron and steel on an industrial scale,” Vattenfall said in a statement.
Hybrit optimized hydrogen storage in real time against both spot and intraday power markets, with cost savings of 26%-31% in the trial.
The pilot storage facility has operated intermittently since 2022 in 3-6-week periods.
“The pilot project has been highly successful and has given us the results we hoped for,” Vattenfall Industrial Partnerships industry decarbonization director Mikael Nordlander said in the statement. “We have shown that it is possible to use this technology to increase the flexibility of the electricity system and that it is a safe design that lasts over time.”
Vattenfall said the group reached 3,800 hours of operation, with 94% availability.
The project involved a 100-cu m steel-lined rock cavern in Svartoberget next to the direct reduction pilot plant for sponge iron production in Lulea, Sweden.
Hybrit said accelerated mechanical tests gave the equivalent results of 50 years’ operation.
The group will extend the pilot storage project to 2026 to carry out additional tests to optimize commercial storage design.
Vattenfall said around 7% of global CO2 emissions come from the steel sector. Hybrit technology could enable SSAB to reduce Sweden’s emissions by 10%, and Finland’s by 7%, it said.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed carbon-accounted hot-rolled coil steel in Northwest Europe at $648/st on Feb. 26, compared with conventional HRC prices CFR Antwerp at Eur550/st ($576/st).
Sweden’s SSAB to supply low carbon steel to Italian crane manufacturer Fassi
Swedish steelmaker SSAB has reached an agreement with Italian crane manufacturer Fassi to supply it with low-carbon steel.
The deal includes steel produced from both iron ore and recycled scrap, SSAB Fossil-free™ steel and SSAB Zero™, which will be used in Fassi’s hydraulic and truck-mounted cranes.
SSAB Zero™ is made using recycled steel and produced with fossil-free electricity and biogas; it has been available for commercial deliveries since 2023. SSAB has also developed fossil-free steel made from iron ore using HYBRIT technology, which employs hydrogen and fossil-free energy instead of coal in the steelmaking process.
The two companies did not disclose the amount of steel included in the deal.
“We look forward to deepening our collaboration with Fassi by delivering premium high-strength steel produced with a significantly lower carbon footprint,” said Per Elfgren, head of SSAB Special Steels.
Fassi CEO Giovanni Fassi added: “Innovation is a projection towards the future. And there is no future without sustainability.”
Fassi is one of the world’s largest loader crane manufacturers. The two companies are already in partnership, with Fassi utilizing SSAB’s Strenx steel, which the company claims adds lifting power, reduces weight and extends reach for its heavy-duty cranes.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Northwest European hot-rolled coil carbon-accounted at Eur680/mt ex-works Ruhr Feb. 25, stable day over day.