The market for high-quality low-emission steel has developed slowly, mainly due to the lack of a clear, uniform standard for defining this material. It is desirable that this be implemented without government regulation, the speakers said last week at the Kallanish Green Steel Strategies conference in Brussels.
It is pointless to assess the level of the "green premium" without first familiarizing yourself with this standard. "Instead of talking about a green surcharge, let's first talk about making sure we know what the decarbonization rate is. We have a clear measurement methodology, and after that, I think everything will fall into place," said Gilles Mirol, Director of Marketing at Hydnum Steel.
"I think standards are also important … I don't think environmental demand is still the same today because of the lack of standards. So it definitely helps to increase demand as well as provide uniformity and how we define it, especially in the field of green budget procurement," said Madhu Sayinathan, Head of Business Innovation, Market Analysis and Sustainable Development at SSAB in Europe. "This is where we need some kind of definition at the level of the European Union or some kind of labeling system that is part of the Action Plan for the production of Steel and Metals."
Product range transparency is doubly important when selling products to the private sector at a premium for low emissions. "If you work with private clients, then you absolutely need transparency in pricing. The main conclusion is that you will not be able to defend, say, an additional surcharge of a couple hundred euros[without providing the product's entire environmental footprint]," said Werner Wiine, category manager at Royal Bam Group steel
."If it really comes to buying green steel, the cost is always discussed," commented Carmen Ostwald, Secretary General of LESS aisbl. "It's also not easy for steel-consuming companies, because they also need end-users to pay for a premium on the price of "green" steel. And for now, we should really see that end consumers are not willing to pay for it – only in small niche markets."
"From my point of view, it is very good that the European Commission is currently discussing the labeling of carbon intensity of steel, which should be voluntary, but I think that in the medium term it is also very important that it becomes mandatory," she said. added.
However, the government should not overly regulate standards for environmentally friendly steel. "I don't think we need government regulation. I think the standard should be something of an arbiter in the market.
