STEEL + TECHNOLOGY 01/2020 EXTRACT

EDITORIAL | 3
What the new decade holds in store for steel
The last few months have seen political discussions about climate change and about
the need to reduce GHG emissions heat up everywhere. In the steel sector, global
players and particularly the European steel companies have hastened to state they intend
to be carbon neutral by 2050, while setting interim CO 2 reduction targets for 2030. In
this issue of STEEL + TECHNOLOGY, we are featuring examples of roadmaps set out
by major steel companies in Europe. Among these, Nordic steel company SSAB has
the most ambitious target: they want to be the first steelmaker to market fossil-free
steel as early as by 2026.
Edwin Basson, Director General, worldsteel, has summarized the environmental challenge
the global steel industry is facing in a recent post on “Steelblog”: “We as an
energy intensive sector with hard-to-abate CO 2 emissions will have to clearly explain
why decarbonising the global economy will be a steel-intensive process. It will partly
depend on our 100% and infinitely recyclable material. We will also have to communicate
the capital-intensive and technically demanding work our members are doing in developing
breakthrough technologies that will see virgin steel produced with net zero carbon.
(….) Our industry is already making headway in responding to these new pressures, but
there remains much to do. Fortunately, both the steel industry and steel as a product
already play an important role in driving the sustainability that society expects.”
Arnt Hannewald, Dipl.Ing.
Editor
In this context, I was recently asked if our magazine will have any upcoming issues
focusing on the reduction of the carbon footprint in ironmaking and steelmaking. Obviously,
the answer was “yes, actually in every issue”, since we certainly want to have
our finger on the pulse of the exciting developments currently taking place in our industry.
There is no way around this topic, neither for the steel companies nor for the media.
In the same line, we feature modernization projects of blast furnaces, greenfield projects
for new steel works, new technologies for strip processing lines and much more – all
of which have significant potential to reduce carbon footprints.
However, 2020 has started with an unforeseeable serious issue – the Wuhan coronavirus
outbreak. This conjures up memories of the SARS epidemic in 2002/2003, which
is said to have caused approx. US$ 50bn of damage to the global economy. Repercussions
of the new coronavirus on the economy may become even more severe. The
outbreak is likely to slow Chinese growth, with global consequences that will not leave
the steel industry unaffected. The economic risks of epidemics are not trivial. Nevertheless,
economic risks should never overshadow the suffering of the sick and families
mourning their loved ones. That we must not forget.
STEEL + TECHNOLOGY 2 (2020) No. 1