German railways are the slowest to introduce eco-friendly steel: conference
Deutsche Bahn could become Europe's largest consumer of low-emission steel rails, but instead lags far behind its neighbors in developing such a strategy for its rail operations.
At the Handelsblatt Zukunft Stahl conference in Essen, attended by Callanisch, Nadine Artelt, Saarstahl Sales Director and CEO of Saarstahl Rail, said that Germany's national railways had failed to become a leading market for environmentally friendly steel.
Despite the fact that Saarstahl is a German company, its business of producing low-carbon steel is much wider in neighboring countries than at home. Last year, the company signed a contract for the supply of at least 78,000 tons with the British Network Rail, as well as another contract with the French SNCF for the supply of up to 170,000 tons per year for six years, plus others.
Meanwhile, in November, Deutsche Bahn signed a trial contract for the supply of 1,000 tons. "We won this tender because no one else would have agreed to supply just 1,000 tons," Artelt joked.
Max — Christian Lange from DB's Sustainability and Environmental Protection department stated that he "would very much like to conclude contracts for much larger volumes," but noted the numerous obstacles in the decision—making process caused by the company's network of subsidiaries.
DB's decision-making is also slowing down due to the responsibility of various political bodies of its main owner, the German state. One of the unresolved issues, for example, is which state treasury should pay the environmental premium that is provided for such products.
Artelt also asked if "the approval process has become entangled in the bureaucracy." She mentioned the billions allocated by the Government to support environmentally friendly steel production technologies, and pointed out the paradox that the government is not creating a market for this steel where it could. According to her estimates, DB's annual demand for rail transportation is 250,000 tons.
"As a German, I would really like Germany to catch up with us in this regard," Artelt said.
Author: Christian Kel Germany
Kallanish.com