Despite growing political and commercial pressure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, European buyers continue to prioritize the purchase of environmentally friendly steel, according to a survey of MEPs.
A recent survey of key industry professionals showed that although only a minority are actively trading in environmentally friendly steel today, momentum is starting to gain. About 40% of respondents reported that they are either currently trading in "green steel" or plan to start within the next three to six months. However, the scope of this activity is still limited, and it mainly concerns individual products.
"There is currently little demand for environmentally friendly steel," one of the respondents commented. "Not so long ago, this topic was relevant, but due to difficult market conditions and high costs, it was pushed to the back of the priority list."
This point of view was also supported by other respondents. One of them asked if the high customer interest observed in previous years was the result of the "hype" around the topic, which has since been replaced by concerns about costs in today's difficult market.
Commenting on the survey results, John Carruthers-Green, a member of the European Parliament and an analyst of the international steel market, said: "Right now, not only green steel is having a hard time finding buyers, but steel as a whole. The market is still oversaturated, and end-user demand remains weak in several key sectors. As the situation improves and customers become more demanding about achieving their own sustainability goals, we expect them to be more willing to pay for low-emission products."
Market trends reveal industry differences
The European Parliament's "Eco-friendly Steel" study has shown that low-emission materials and implementation timestamps depend on specific industries. Respondents often mentioned the automotive sector and the renewable energy sector as pioneers, where sustainability commitments are already spreading through supply chains.
"The demand for environmentally friendly steel in construction is very low," said one of the suppliers. "Despite the fact that the demand for automotive products is growing, consumers are concerned that the eco-friendly surcharge cannot be taken into account in the prices of the final products."
The issue of price remains the most important stumbling block for sales of environmentally friendly steel. One of the questions that the MEPs asked market participants selling environmentally friendly steel products was whether
