[Business] News Ecology at Work in Mining and Banking Swedish Steel Production Goes Green By Peter Berlin
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train line above the Scandinavian Arctic Circle is used to convey iron ore from one of the world’s largest iron mines to the ocean for onward shipment to steel works in faraway countries. The mine is in Kiruna in Sweden, and the seaport is in Narvik on the scenic Norwegian coast. A highway runs parallel with the train track. If you stop your car and walk up to the track, you will find the rail bed covered with little iron ore pellets that have fallen off freight trains over many decades. Pelletizing
Aerial view of Narvik. Photo: Fredric Alm/LKAB
iron ore facilitates transport, and the pellets are used as raw material for blast furnaces. They typically contain around 70 percent of pure iron, to which various materials have been added in order to adjust their chemical composition and metallurgic properties. The pellets are fabricated at various plants of the Swedish state-owned
Swedish banks and government at odds
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s COVID-19 is overwhelming countries in North America and Europe, consumers are discovering that their cash is often shunned by merchants in favour of credit or debit cards. Well, now we are all getting a foretaste of what shopping in Sweden has been like for some time. Swedish banks have been successful in their effort to wean their customers away from the habit of using “dirty” cash for everyday purchases. Instead, people have been encouraged to use credit or debit cards for payments, as well as smartphone apps to both send and receive funds. Few banks offer cash withdrawals over the counter, and cash machines are becoming scarce. Banks incur a significant overhead cost when handling cash, and even more so when processing cheques. To save money and increase profits, they have turned Sweden into the
world’s ultimate cashless society. However, the government has been unhappy about this development. They consider that deciding monetary policy should be the prerogative of Riksbanken (the Central Bank of Sweden) rather than commercial banks. Now it looks as if Riksbanken will take revenge on high street banks by introducing the so-called e-krona – a virtual, electronic version of the real thing – thereby depriving the banks of their source of funds in the form of customer deposits. This is so because the holder of an e-krona will have
mining company LKAB which, for 130 years, has been extracting iron ore from mines in Kiruna and its surroundings. It is a “dirty” business, with LKAB currently contributing four percent of all industrial greenhouse emissions in Sweden. However, this is about to change. A massive investment in sustainable mining processes amounting to 400 billion Swedish kronor ($47 billion) will achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. The initiative involves using green energy, such as hydrogen, to produce processed iron ore known as “sponge iron”. Like iron ore pellets, sponge iron is not useful by itself, but can be processed to create wrought iron or steel. Sponge iron will replace pellets, greatly reducing emissions during the steel-making process.
a direct claim on the Central Bank, effectively bypassing commercial banks. Central banks don’t go bankrupt even during the worst of financial crises. Compared to commercial banks, Riksbanken would be a safer haven for savings, and the interest rates would be more favourable for both savings and loans. A decision is expected by November 2022 on whether to pursue the e-krona project.
Composite picture of Swedish banknotes and coins. Photo: Sveriges Riksbank
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Swedish Press | February 2021 9
