Germany's Salzgitter to supply low-carbon steel to Mercedes-Benz

German steelmaker Salzgitter said July 22 it will supply low-carbon emissions steel to Mercedes-Benz plants in Germany by the end of the year.

Salzgitter Flachstahl will deliver cold-rolled and galvanized flat steel products with a CO2 footprint reduced by more than 66% to four Mercedes plants, the steel and trading group said in a statement. The company did not provide details on volumes or steel pricing, which take into account lower-carbon emissions from the new supplies.

The low-carbon steel grades are produced in Peine's electric arc furnace (EAF) mill in combination with the galvanizing plant in Salzgitter, it said.

"These steel grades have met with strong interest from customers operating in range of different sectors," Salzgitter said in a statement.

"Mercedes-Benz AG is the first automotive manufacturer that Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH is supplying with CO2-reduced steel in the form of cold-rolled strip and galvanized sheet steel for serial production. The products will be used, among other things, for structural and body parts for various car models."

Salzgitter said customers consider it important to take delivery of steel with reduced carbon emissions now, rather than being satisfied with theoretical emissions footprint projections. Salzgitter is among the first integrated steelmakers to market low-carbon steel, with ArcelorMittal offering steel bundled with certificates based on emissions cuts at its European works. Italy's Arvedi produces flat steel from EAFs, which use ferrous scrap and metallics.

The company will also pursue low-carbon steel production through the SALCOS project, said CEO Gunnar Groebler.

"This fundamental transformation will enable us to completely replace conventional steel production in a series of defined steps through hydrogen-based processes," Groebler said. "This will enable us to achieve our mission of reducing CO2 by around 95%, thus avoiding 1% of Germany's current emissions."

Salzgitter said it had obtained conformity statements for its new low emissions steel products in accordance with the VERIsteel standard of TUV SUD.

The process provides proof of product-specific CO2 emissions in steel production, and the conformity statements confirm that switching the steel production process from the conventional blast furnace route to the EAF-steel route achieves CO2 savings of between 66 and 75%, depending on the final product delivered, it said.