DUISBURG/FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Unlike their competitor ArcelorMittal, German steel manufacturers Thyssenkrupp Steel and Salzgitter intend to continue pursuing their projects for more climate-friendly production. "We are sticking to our plan to complete the first direct reduction plant in Duisburg," a spokesperson for Thyssenkrupp Steel told the German Press Agency on request. However, the project is "at the limits of economic viability."
Salzgitter wants to gradually replace its three coal-fired blast furnaces with plants that will initially run on natural gas and later on green hydrogen. The company is sticking to this plan, a company spokeswoman emphasized.
On Thursday, the international ArcelorMittal Group announced that it would not be switching to coal-free steel production at its plants in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt after all. This was justified by the lack of economic viability of CO2-reduced steel production. This would require large quantities of hydrogen, which would have to be produced cheaply from green electricity. By withdrawing from the project, ArcelorMittal is foregoing €1.3 billion in funding that had already been approved.
Projects at Thyssenkrupp and Salzgitter to continue
Construction of the new plant has already begun at Germany's largest steel producer, Thyssenkrupp Steel. The company is to receive a total of around €2 billion in funding from the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for this purpose. The plant, which will produce steel in a more climate-friendly way, is set to replace two blast furnaces by 2030. It will initially be powered by natural gas and later by hydrogen.
A spokeswoman for Salzgitter AG said that the implementation of the first stage of the conversion was "already very far advanced and will be pushed ahead as planned." The conversion has been underway at Germany's third-largest steel group since the end of 2023. The first plant is scheduled to go into operation in 2027.
Salzgitter is investing more than two billion euros, of which one billion euros is being provided by the federal and state governments. The company aims to switch completely to green steel by 2033.
The Salzgitter spokeswoman described ArcelorMittal's decision to put its restructuring plans in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt on hold for the time being as a clear signal that the framework conditions for transformation projects need to be improved. Now, she said, it is important to intensify the development of the hydrogen economy and reduce electricity prices to a competitive level.
IG Metall considers ArcelorMittal's withdrawal short-sighted and wrong
IG Metall sharply criticized ArcelorMittal. "This decision is strategically short-sighted, wrong from a business perspective, and highly irresponsible in terms of its impact on employees and society as a whole," said Jürgen Kerner, second chairman of the union.
The climate-neutral restructuring of the steel industry is a project of the century. The future of thousands of jobs in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt is at stake. The employees have agreed to this, politicians have made commitments worth billions, and electricity prices are moving in the right direction. "The only ones who are losing their nerve and wavering are the managers at ArcelorMittal," Kerner criticized. The federal government must immediately convene a crisis summit for the steel industry. /tob/DP/he
