SSAB received an environmental permit for the conversion of its steel plant in Luleå

Johnny Sjöström, President and CEO at SSAB stated, “This is a big day for us at SSAB and for the transformation to fossil-free steel production in Sweden. Now we can proceed with an investment that will result in reduced climate impact of national significance. At the same time, we safeguard jobs in Luleå, create a more flexible and cost-effective production and strengthen our and our customers’ competitiveness with a wider offering of unique premium products.”

SSAB is planning to decommission the current blast furnace-based production system after the mini-plant with electric arc furnace, rolling systems and advanced processes start operating at full capacity with this environmental permit. The investment, focusing on specialty and premium steels produced with near-zero fossil carbon emissions, is set to strengthen SSAB's leading position in the green transformation of the steel industry. The mini plant is reported to run on fossil-free electricity and supplied with fossil-free sponge iron and recycled scrap produced with HYBRIT technology as raw materials.

Sara Arvidson, Director of Environmental Permits at SSAB’s Transformation Office emphasized, “This is an important step toward achieving on both our own and Sweden’s climate goals, and the sooner the transformation happens, the better it will be for the climate and for the environment. We have gone through an extensive process with this application and subsequent correspondence, and we are very pleased that it has now resulted in a permit.”