US Steel Kosice (USSK) will invest approximately €900 million ($1.04 billion) in a new electric arc furnace and air separation unit (ASU) after signing an agreement with the Slovak government for a grant to partly cover the cost.
The 1.6 million tonnes/year capacity EAF is scheduled for commissioning in 2030, Kallanish notes.
The investment “strengthens the long-term perspective of steelmaking and employment in Kosice, supports a reliable regional customer base with high-quality and progressively lower-CO2 steel products, and confirms USSK’s active role in the decarbonisation and continued functioning of Slovak industry,” USSK says.
The EAF will operate together with the existing blast furnace facilities, enabling USSK to achieve both a stable supply of high-quality steel and a significant reduction in CO2 emissions, the firm says. The new ASU will support stable steelworks operation while improving energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions.
The grant amounts to approximately €350m, of which €310m is for the EAF and €40m for the ASU. It will be disbursed by the government through the EU Modernisation Fund. This is financed from revenues generated by the EU Emissions Trading System, including revenues from allowances paid by companies operating under the EU ETS. As the largest industrial participant in the Slovak EU ETS system, USSK has been the country’s most significant contributor to these revenues, it points out.
USSK’s decarbonisation “will help preserve industrial capabilities, strengthen supply security and support the competitiveness of Slovakia and the CEE region,” the firm notes. “At the same time, it is expected that Europe will secure its home market for domestic producers that invest in modern decarbonisation technologies, manufacture high-tech products in the region and contribute to the EU’s strategic competitiveness.”
Nippon Steel will transition USSK to direct ownership and rename the unit to Nippon Steel Slovakia effective 1 October. It aims to capitalise on the EU’s tighter import regime and concentration of automotive customers in Central and Eastern Europe.
