The steel industry faces major challenges related to climate change and the need to reduce the carbon footprint, which has long been accused of being one of the main influencers of environmental pollution.
It must be acknowledged that the largest countries in the world have made international public opinion aware of the need to take decisive action to preserve the climate, and sustainable development goals have been agreed upon at high levels, such as the United Nations, the Paris Agreement, the International Energy Agency, the WTO, and the Climate Club.
In November 2024, the World Steel Association published its latest 2003-2023 sustainability performance report for the steel industry, which ranks companies on the basis of three main criteria: Environmental Performance, Social Perfor-mance, Economic Performance. The total number of companies and associations that contributed to this study represents 51% of the world’s steel production, i.e. nearly 950 million tons.
A number of member companies of the Arab Iron and Steel Union were honored to be among the top 30 companies in the World Steel Organization’s sustainability list, namely:
– AlMarakby Steel (Egypt), in 23rd place
– EMSteel (UAE), in 24th place
– EZZ Steel (Egypt), in 25th place
Other strong performers include:
– Qatar Steel (Qatar), in 50th place
– Hadded (Saudi Arabia), in 53rd place
– Sulb (Bahrain), in 62nd place
The Arab Iron and Steel Union has made sustainability and carbon neutrality in the iron and steel industry in Arab countries one of its priorities during this period through studies conducted by the Union’s technical committee, especially since 99% of Arab countries’ production is done through direct reduction technology and electric furnaces that rely on iron scrap. The Federation’s Technical Committee, in its latest report in September 2024 on carbon neutrality in Arab steel mills, indicated that the average carbon dioxide emissions of Arab steel companies are 1.16 CO2 equivalent /t, while the average carbon dioxide emissions of steel mills in the world are 1.91 CO2 equivalent/t, or 1% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
Many Arab steel companies have taken steps towards carbon neutrality through medium- and long-term plans, with strict environmental commitments in production processes within the framework of sustainable development.
For example, EM-STEEL’s strategy is exemplary since the Group has used 84% clean electricity in its steel business. It has made significant progress in decarbonizing its operations, products, and supply chain.
In addition, the Group has partnered with the MASDAR Group for the successful start-up of the first pilot project allowing the production of Green Steel using Green Hydrogen instead of Natural Gas.
Dr. Kamel Djoudi