These postponements raise serious doubts about the company’s real commitment to decarbonization and the maintenance of thousands of jobs.
[Article originally published in Nortes]
ArcelorMittal, Europe’s largest steel manufacturer, talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk when it comes to decarbonization. The company committed to reducing its CO₂ emissions by 35% in its European plants by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. To achieve these goals, it announced significant investments and, to date, had secured around 3 billion euros in public aid for this purpose.
However, on Tuesday the company officially announced that it is postponing its projects across Europe to build direct reduction of iron ore plants (DRI plants) based on green hydrogen, currently considered one of the best available technologies to contribute to the decarbonization of this essential economic sector. Among the facilities that will be affected by this decision is the Gijón steelworks, the only one in Spain that still bases its production process on coal burning.
ArcelorMittal blames the fact that “the political, energy, and market environments in Europe have not moved in a favorable direction” and that technologies that offer the potential to drive a green transition in the steelmaking process, including green hydrogen, will likely “not have a significant effect until after 2030.”
These postponements raise serious doubts about the company’s real commitment to decarbonization and the maintenance of thousands of jobs, as the non-execution of these projects will endanger the viability of its factories. ArcelorMittal’s actions are a worrying indication of its priorities, in which economic interests seem to take precedence over social and environmental issues.
However, the transition to a renewable energy-based steel sector not only implies a reduction in carbon emissions but also constitutes an opportunity to build a stronger, more innovative, and future-ready industrial ecosystem that benefits workers, companies, and communities alike.
Instead of seizing the opportunity to lead the transition to renewable energy-based steel—a growing market and the undeniable future of the industry in Europe—we are witnessing another step backward. As one of the world’s leading steel manufacturers, ArcelorMittal should be setting the pace for innovation and progress, not slowing down its transformation, covertly pressuring European institutions for even more financial support from the EU, with the threat of relocating its factories to countries outside the Union with less environmental regulation.
Without firm commitment from the company and with the absence of specific policies that drive a fair and ambitious transition and hold polluting companies like ArcelorMittal accountable, the road ahead will be long and very complicated, and the transformation of the sector cannot wait.
