Metso Outotec has signed an agreement for the delivery of engineering and key equipment for an iron ore Grate Kiln pellet plant to Vulcan Pelletizing LLC.

The age of "survival of the fittest" is over - the future will be won by companies that cooperate with each other, according to the trend monitor of the German Future Institute. The international engineering and consulting company DMT GmbH und Co. KG has been working on this since 1737, enabling joint progress in complex engineering assignments across the world. A new milestone is the recently signed strategic cooperation with MUTAG, the leading specialist in the field of biological wastewater treatment from Chemnitz, by signing a cooperation agreement. The aim of the cooperation is to jointly implement turnkey wastewater treatment projects for the industrial sector worldwide. To this end, both companies offer individual, customised solutions that are particularly suitable for technologically demanding applications.

Outokumpu has received the highest Platinum level recognition for the second year in a row from the sustainability rating platform EcoVadis. The Platinum level rating indicates that Outokumpu is among the top 1% of the over 85,000 companies evaluated.

Outokumpu has signed a 10-year power supply agreement for renewable wind power with Swiss electricity producer Alpiq. The amount of contracted wind power energy corresponds to over 60% of Outokumpu’s electricity consumption at its production sites in Germany. According to the agreement, deliveries will begin in January 2023.

Increasing the share of low-carbon electricity is one of the most important methods for Outokumpu to achieve its ambitious climate targets. In total, the share of low-carbon electricity in Outokumpu's European operations is already over 80 percent.

“With another new wind power agreement, we can strengthen the role of renewable energy in the sustainable development of our operations even further. With our direction towards low-carbon energy sources, Outokumpu is supporting in the transition to more sustainable energy sources such as wind power,” says Mika Orpana, Head of Energy and Utilities, General Procurement at Outokumpu.

Earlier, Outokumpu has announced two other 10-year wind power agreements. Together these agreements support Outokumpu’s ambitious science-based climate targets which are aligned with keeping global warming below 1.5°C. The updated targets were announced in December 2021 and support Outokumpu’s aim of being the industry leader in sustainability.

Source: Outokumpu

The work of adapting LKAB for the ongoing transition process continues. This entails a re-organisation of HR and Sustainability and changes in group management.

As Senior Vice President HR and Sustainability Grete Solvang Stoltz is leaving the company, a review of the organisation has been made. This means that the current position of Senior Vice President HR and Sustainability will be replaced by two positions: a Senior Vice President HR and a Senior Vice President Sustainability. Recruitment to the position of SVP Sustainability has recently been completed.

Thiess today announced it has secured two mining services contracts in Queensland, Australia with a combined revenue of approximately $200 million.

Finding new solutions to decarbonize the steelmaking value chain is a must for the industry to become fossil-free and to help limit global warming to 1.5°C. To support the efforts, Metso Outotec is introducing the next generation of its Circored^TM process for the direct reduction of iron ore fines. The game-changing process uses hydrogen as a reducing agent instead of CO produced from fossil fuels, allowing the iron and steel industry to efficiently tackle the decarbonization challenge. Circored is part of Metso Outotec’s Planet Positive portfolio.

Vanadium is a key metal for sustainable development around the world. It is used to reduce the CO₂ footprint of steelmaking and applied as electrolyte in vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs), which are set to play a leading role in long duration energy storage.

SSAB will attend meetings in conjunction with UN climate talks at COP26 in Glasgow to highlight the importance of an effective framework for industrial transition to support the possibility to reach the UN’s climate change goals.

Leena Craelius has been appointed acting CFO at SSAB. She has long experience of the steel industry and has held several senior positions at SSAB. She will take up her new position on November 1, 2021.

Hanna Hoikkala has a decade of journalism experience, and joins SSAB from news agency Bloomberg News, where she was a reporter covering parts of Nordic finance. Hoikkala´s background also extends to studies in biology and economics, among other topics.

Outokumpu and Gasum have signed a new 10-year power supply agreement for renewable wind power. The contracted wind power energy covers almost entirely the electricity consumption of Outokumpu's Kemi mine. According to the agreement, deliveries will begin in the summer of 2023.

From mine to steel. SSAB has now produced the world’s first fossil-free steel from LKAB iron and delivered it to a customer. The trial delivery is an important step on the way to a completely fossil-free value chain for iron and steelmaking and a milestone in the HYBRIT partnership between SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall.

Tamara Weinert has been appointed as President of Business Area Americas with immediate effect. She has been the Acting President of Business Area Americas and a member of Outokumpu Leadership Team since October 2020.

Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration), together with LKAB and Bane Nor, is conducting tests on the Swedish and Norwegian sections of the Ore Railway to enable heavier transports in future. Therefore, the axle load for ore cars is being increased from 30 tonnes to 31 tonnes.

Volvo Group and SSAB have signed a collaboration agreement on research, development, serial production and commercialization of the world’s first vehicles to be made of fossil-free steel. Volvo plans already this year to start the production of concept vehicles and components from steel made by SSAB using hydrogen.

SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall have commenced building a rock cavern storage facility for fossil-free hydrogen gas on a pilot scale next to HYBRIT’s pilot facility for direct reduction in Luleå, North of Sweden. This is an important step in the development of a fossil-free value chain for fossil-free steel. The investment cost of just over SEK 250 million (about 24 M €) is divided equally across the holding companies and the Swedish Energy Agency, which provides support via Industriklivet.

SSAB, LKAB and Vattenfall are now taking a new, decisive leap forward in their work to make fossil-free steel for the global market. Industrialization of the technology being developed through HYBRIT will start in Gällivare, northern Sweden, where the world’s first production plant for fossil-free sponge iron – from feedstock to steel – is being planned.

The Land and Environment Court has decided to grant SSAB Oxelösund an environmental permit to convert its steelmaking operations and reduce carbon dioxide activities by 2025. This also means that we will take a step nearer towards fossil-free steel production across SSAB in 2045.

Liberty Steel Group, part of sustainable industry leader GFG Alliance, has today announced that it has made a non-binding indicative offer (NBIO) as part of a Thyssenkrupp-led process to acquire the steel activities of Thyssenkrupp. Liberty Steel is a global steel and mining business with annual revenues of about US$ 15 bn/ € 13 bn and 30,000 employees in more than 200 locations on four continents.