Japan: Nippon Steel eyes carbon reduction via carbon neutral steel

Japanese steel major Nippon Steel has decided to sell about 300,000 tonnes (t) of NS CARBOLEX Neutral (carbon-neutral steel product) by fiscal year 2023 in the domestic as well as in the exports market. The production of the same will be done through utilising CO2 reduction effect of electric arc furnaces in the Setouchi Works, in the Hirohata area.

Nippon Steel is planning to switch the iron source process in the Hirohata area to an electric furnace. The current iron source manufacturing facility uses a cold iron source melting method (SMP) in which iron scrap is melted in a converter-type melting furnace, and carbon material is used as a fuel. This way, the company can reduce its dependency on coal and simultaneously reduce CO2 emissions. Notably, the new electric furnace has already been installed and is expected to enter commercial operation by 2022.

To boost sales, the company will adopt "mass balance method" that allocates company-wide CO2 reduction results to specific steel materials in order to ensure the fairness of the reduction results. Also, to the certificate of CO2 emission reduction issued by Nippon Steel, the product will be supplied with third-party certification by Japan Inspection & Quality Assurance (JICQA).

On price perspective, Nippon Steel is considering adding a premium to the regular price, however, it is not yet finalised. A system will be considered which will monitor the surcharge according to changes in costs spent on reducing CO2 emissions.

In addition, Nippon Steel will further continue to take additional measures to reduce CO2 and aim to expand the supply of decarbonized steel according to market needs.

"We want to aim for about 10 mnt sales in 2030, but we are also working on the development of super-innovative technologies and the implementation of technology. It is difficult to make a specific promise when and how many tonnes," Taishi Tsunochi, GM (sales) remarked in a statement.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Japan Metal Daily and SteelMint.