Major Steel Producers Fail in Transition to Renewable Energy

According to a survey among 18 leading companies, the world's largest steel producers are lagging in the transition to low-carbon production, with some still entirely dependent on fossil fuels for energy. The Sydney-based climate group Action Speaks Louder (ASL) noted that some of the industry's biggest names continued to source 99% of their energy from fossil fuels between 2022 and 2023.

Laura Kelly, ASL's strategy director and author of the survey, stated that steel is considered a "hard to abate" sector, but the primary obstacle is affordability. Kelly remarked, "This 'hard to abate' message still implies that it is not technologically possible."

The best-performing company was the Swedish SSAB, which sources 19% of its energy from renewable resources, while some of the lagging companies were located in South Korea. Hyundai Steel, Dongkuk Steel, and Posco had nearly zero or no share of renewable energy in their energy consumption, despite producing large quantities of steel through alternative technologies.

Steel is responsible for 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions, a figure comparable to that of India, with coal-fired blast furnaces emitting 2 tons of CO2 for every ton produced.