Russia's Severstal plans wide low-emissions steel offering, sees Europe demand

Russian steel and mining group Severstal is planning to offer various bands of lower emissions "green steel" products, citing customer demand for sustainably produced products and more transparency around carbon reductions.

Severstal is working closely with the steel marketing team to tap into growing customer demand for low emissions steel and has developed a green steel methodology for its product offering, Olga Kalashnikova, head of environment at Severstal, said in the Green Steelmaking webinar on Feb. 24.

The company will offer steel coils and pipes with lower carbon intensity and produce products using bespoke customer specifications around carbon intensity, she told the event from Steel Times International. The company is planning to offer four different low emissions steel categories with progressively lower carbon intensities, including a net zero product using carbon emissions offsets.

Demand for low emissions steel is led by European markets, driven by interest around reductions and more requirements to show overall emissions, she said.

"High demand for green products will come from our European clients," she said. "In Europe there is already high demand for environmental product declarations."

Interest in green steel products in Russia currently lags Europe, and Severstal expects Russian customer demand to catch up, she said. More steel customers are requesting green steel products and are wiling to pay for lower emissions steel and considering environmental aspects in procurement, according to Severstal.

Severstal is focused on establishing a widely accepted definition of green steel and using certifications such as those being developed by ResponsibleSteel, the broader industry and stakeholder group.

The company uses greenhouse gas emissions and accounting standards, and is measuring emissions on a Scope 1-3 basis. The company plans to have its green steel independently verified.