Global Energy Monitor - Russia doubles down on coal-based steelmaking, even as opportunity

While the EU market has pressures from carbon tariffs and corporate climate gradually decreased Russian iron and steel imports, disclosures mean that the country’s export-heavy the lack of consistency in restrictions leaves steel iron and steel industry will need to act. [...] Unless Russian industry cleans up its produc- Sustainability Reporting Directive and is set to tion routes, Russian exports to the EU are expected to become mandatory in the United States next year become more difficult and expensive due to carbon under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s pricing. [...] Russia faces challenges in building its planned DRI- Regardless of hydrogen type, the hydrogen-based EAF units — a few of them have been postponed DRI process still produces steel at a lower emis- (Table 3) due to the exit of Midrex, Danieli, and sions intensity than BF-BOF or gas-based DRI-EAF Primetals from the Russian market, three of the steelmaking. [...] In the short term, the company plans to focus on CCS instead, which is Metalloinvest operates both BF-BOF and gas-based risky given the unproven success of CCS in the steel DRI-EAF steelmaking plants. [...] Switching from blast fur- nace steelmaking to low-carbon hydrogen-based DRI While the cost of hydrogen and switching to hydro- would create domestic demand for hydrogen, with gen-based DRI production may represent a signifi- the added benefit of decarbonizing the country’s cant challenge for Russian steelmakers, reallocations steel industry, thus aligning Russian steel producers of the millions of.