The steel industry on the path to decarbonization

In an interview with daily wire & Tube, Frank Koch, CEO of the Swiss Steel Group, outlines how he intends to sustainably expand and consolidate the company's pioneering role as a green steel producer.

daily wire & Tube: The German steel industry has been increasingly confronted with numerous new challenges in recent years. The past year 2023 in particular was very problematic. How did the Swiss Steel Group navigate its way through these difficult times?

Frank Koch: 2023 was undoubtedly a challenging year for the entire steel industry. It was a particularly terrible year for us. But we are now looking ahead again and "wire & Tube" is the perfect opportunity for us to express this.

In what way?

As an exhibitor, we are showcasing what has always set us apart and underlining the fact that the Swiss Steel Group asserts itself through its innovative strength and its focus on sustainable solutions. We have once again increased our investment in research and development in order to make our processes more efficient, resource-saving and environmentally friendly. In addition, we have sought even closer dialog and collaboration with our customers in order to better understand and meet their needs in this challenging environment.

You mentioned the focus on sustainable solutions. The Swiss Steel Group is known for its pioneering role in the field of green steel. How exactly do you integrate sustainable processes, improvements and practices into your production?

Sustainability is a central component of our corporate strategy. As a steel producer on the electric arc furnace route, we inherently have a significant technological advantage. You can also say "we are Green By Nature" as we work exclusively with recycled material and do not use coal or coke. This means that our CO2 footprint is already significantly better. If we now also have the option of using energy from renewable sources, we can already supply green steel every day, which has a very significantly reduced carbon footprint.

How green is Swiss Steel's green steel?

Our Green Steel has a CO2 footprint that is up to 83% lower than the global average for the steel industry, and for our Green Steel Premiun product Green Steel Climate+ it is even up to 94%. In addition, we are increasingly focusing on what we call next-generation recycling. The main aim here is to sort the scrap in such a way that it is no longer downstream but actually upstream. This is what we mean by circular economy. A key part of this is to avoid the addition of any additional primary alloys as far as possible in order to produce single-variety products. From a technological point of view, this is a topic that could fill an entire evening. That would take us too far afield. But I can promise you that we will develop a high level of innovation in this area over the next few years.

Another notable facet of your strategy is the focus on special steels for the automotive, aerospace and medical sectors. How will the Swiss Steel Group position itself in these key areas over the next few years?

These markets place high demands on the quality and performance of the materials used. The Swiss Steel Group has many years of experience and expertise in developing customized solutions for these industries. We work very closely with our customers to understand their specific requirements and offer products that meet their needs.

In this context, "in line with requirements" means?

Our special steels are characterized by their high strength, durability and precision as well as their good machinability and are therefore the first choice for leading companies in these sectors. The large number of products that we manufacture for the aerospace sector is impressive proof of this.

What are you doing to meet your customers' growing need for decarbonization? What measures are you taking to achieve your goals in this area?

The decarbonization of the steel industry is one of the most pressing challenges of our time and the
Swiss Steel Group remains committed to playing a leading role in this transformation. We are investing in research and development of innovative technologies such as scrap processing, the recovery of valuable alloys in the recycling process and the reduction of energy consumption in production. In addition, we are working with policymakers, industry partners and stakeholders from the scientific community to jointly develop solutions that enable a sustainable future for the steel industry across all areas, from Scope 1 to Scope 3. It is a complex challenge, but we are confident that through our efforts we can make a significant contribution to decarbonization.