VW-owned Scania began its journey towards using solely green steel in June this year with a landmark agreement with H2 Green Steel provide sustainable material for building Scania trucks and this week says it will buy from competitor SSAB.
Swedish truck maker Scania will switch to using steel made without carbon emissions in all its heavy-duty vehicles before the end of the decade, it said on Monday (November 13).
Scania, owned by Volkswagen, published a letter of intent to buy steel made without use of fossil fuels from Swedish metals maker SSAB from 2026, with deliveries gradually rising until 2030.
“Scania’s purpose is to drive the shift towards a sustainable transport system,” CEO Christian Levin said in a statement, adding that the truck maker was taking action across its value chain to cut emissions.
SSAB Zero is made of recycled steel and produced with fossil-free electricity and biogas – resulting in steels with virtually no fossil carbon emissions. SSAB Fossil-free steel is produced by using HYBRIT® technology, with direct reduction of iron ore using fossil-free hydrogen – emitting water instead of CO2.
SSAB said in a statement: “With HYBRIT® technology, SSAB aims to be the first steel company in the world to bring fossil-free steel to the market already in 2026 and largely eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from our own operations in around 2030. Together with our partners and customers, SSAB aims to create a fossil-free value chain, from the mine to the end-product.”
Scania did not say how much steel it would buy and did not reveal the cost.
The company began its drive towards using solely green steel in June this year with a landmark agreement will see H2 Green Steel provide sustainable material for building Scania trucks.
The initial contract with start-up H2 Green Steel will provide Scania with sustainably produced steel for building its trucks, allowing the company to take another big step towards reducing the climate footprint of its vehicle manufacturing. Production will begin at H2 Green Steel’s new plant in Boden, northern Sweden, in 2025, with deliveries of the sustainable material set for 2027.
The far-reaching agreement is a key element of Scania’s ambitious, industry-leading strategy to eliminate the largest sources of carbon emissions from the most emitting production materials and batteries. The goal of the strategy is for Scania to phase out the main sources of CO2 emissions inits supply chain by 2030, including a target of using 100 percent green steel, 100 percent green batteries, 100 percent green aluminium and 100 percent green cast iron in its production*.
Another important aspect of this work is Scania’s role as a partner in the First Movers Coalition, which encourages companies to increase low-carbon purchases in areas that are hard to decarbonise. The new contract will help Scania meet its commitment to the coalition to buy significant amounts of green steel. About four tons of steel is used to manufacture a truck so there is clear potential for a substantially positive climate impact from using green steel instead.
“With this first order from our strategic partner H2 Green Steel, we are continuing our progress towards minimising the climate impact from our supply chain,” says Anders Williamsson, Executive Vice President, Head of R&D and Purchasing at Scania.
“Scania has been one of our biggest supporters from day one. Not only in helping frame the opportunity for green steel but also as an early seed capital investor. Their support and partnership in crafting the value proposition has contributed massively to our go-to-market strategies. Scania is truly a pioneer in sustainability and was first in their sector to set Science-Based Targets in line with the Paris Agreement. Now all our forward leaning off-take customers are doing the same.”, says Mark Bula, Commercial Head of Boden Steel at H2 Green Steel.
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Learn more about SSAB fossil-free steel HERE
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