Germany inclines towards DRI

The temporary closure of many blast furnaces comes at a time that public concern about CO 2 emissions has reached a peak and steel companies are forced to make moves towards cleaner steel. On the way there, direct-reduced iron (DRI) technology might be the landmark technology on the farther horizon, managers of German mills said at a conference in February.

AUTHOR: Christian Köhl

At the “Zukunft Stahl” conference organised by business daily Handelsblatt in association with organiser Euroforum in Düsseldorf, Germany, the heads of thyssenkrupp Steel and Saarstahl/Dillinger presented their visions on how to address the requirements of the EU’s Green Deal. “We need to get away from the blast furnace route to meet the political targets,” said Tim Hartmann, joint CEO of Saarstahl/Dillinger Hütte, and cautiously suggested DRI as a possible alternative.

Premal Desai, the outgoing CEO of thyssenkrupp Steel, was more outspoken on the matter. “We will have to convert to DRI, and we are already telling our staff that our works’ skyline will look similar from the (autobahn) A 42.” The statements were remarkable, given that they come from some of the major oxygen-route mill operators in Germany. thyssenkrupp Steel recently started employing hydrogen in the blast furnace process, but even when fully implemented it will only achieve a CO 2 reduction of max. 20%, Desai said. “I am very happy to hear that DRI is emerging as such a desirable topic today,” said Uwe Braun, CEO of ArcelorMittal Hamburg, also a speaker at the conference. The mill was the second DRI plant in the world when started in 1970 and is still the only one in Europe. Last year, ArcelorMittal started a major project to convert the mill’s gas feed to hydrogen generated with power from renewable sources. Steel needs politics and PR In a panel round, the participants highlighted the need for winning the favour of politics and public opinion. The quality of steel as a material cannot be denied, and the steel industry is a sector that is used to research & development, and where trendsetting innovations take place, Saarstahl’s Hartmann said. “We are helping politics to be credible,” he claimed. thyssenkrupp Steel’s Premal Desai pointed out that unlike the coal industry, steel has an undisputed future. “There will be no de-steelisation,” he said.

However, steelmakers will need political and public support to bear with the efforts of decarbonisation. “The farmers have given us an example of how to turn the public opinion,” said Hartmann, referring to a rally of German farmers in Berlin. “This is the new way of making politics,” he said. One example to be highlighted was that one-quarter of Dillinger’s plate output these days is used for wind power plants. “That is the share we used to sell to pipeline production,” he emphasised.

Salzgitter AG’s CEO Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann connected with that theme when he criticised the legal dilemma that wind turbines are required to be at a certain distance from residential premises. This “counters the efforts for green power in a grotesque way.” He noted that the country needs some 1,900 terawatt-hours of extra capacity until 2050, “and we need to get going with it; otherwise, we won’t get there.”

The steel managers were encouraged by the federal minister of environment, Svenja Schulze of the Social Democrats (SPD). “We need to step up in this regard, and much faster than it has happened so far,” she said. “and this is not a question of technology – it’s a question of how to win over the public.” Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann, CEO of Salzgitter AG Photo: Uta Wagner / Euroforum Deutschland GmbH Tim Hartmann, joint CEO of Saarstahl/Dillinger Henrik Adam, CEO Tata Steel Europe Debate: Will DRI be the future of steel? The thoughts German top steel managers expressed in Düsseldorf may be echoed, but may also be questioned. We would like to hear your opinion on the topic. Write to mpt-international@maenken.com