SSAB mill gets green light; British Steel announces rail sector sales

A beleaguered European steel industry received some good news last week, getting a regulatory green light for a proposed electric arc furnace (EAF) mill in Sweden, while a United Kingdom metals producer that several months ago was subject to government intervention has announced two rail sector sales contracts.

In Sweden, a court of appeal has confirmed, after receiving written comments from concerned parties, the late 2024 issuance of a permit for steelmaker SSAB to build a recycled-content EAF mill in Luleå, Sweden.

Ground was broken on the EAF mill project in September based on the late 2024 permit announcement. Now, SSAB says it can fully move forward on a project it says enables it to secure long-term competitiveness while reducing carbon dioxide emissions from production by up to 90 percent.

“We welcome the court of Appeal’s decision to resolve outstanding issues related to the permit for our new steel plant in Luleå,” SSAB Executive Vice President Carl Orrling says. “Removing uncertainty provides clarity and stability for our transformation.”

According to SSAB, the court of appeal confirmed the location was appropriate and that electric arc furnaces meet a requirement for best available technology.

“We will now continue working to meet the conditions set and ensure the project is implemented responsibly,” SSAB Head of Environment and Energy Sara Arvidson says.

In the U.K., England-based British Steel, which was purchased by Chinese company Jingye Group in 2020, last week announced sales of steel rail products to buyers in Australia and Turkey.

This April, U.K. officials moved to appoint a new CEO and chief commercial officer after Jingye Group announced it had intended to idle British Steel’s blast furnaces. That announcement was made by Jingye after it failed to reach a government loan arrangement with the U.K.

Now, seven months later, British Steel has agreed to supply 20,000 metric tons of railroad ties (known as sleepers in the U.K.) to Arc Infrastructure, which manages and operates 3,400 miles of rail network in Australia.

The products sold will replace timber railroad ties.

“This is a great win for the team and the wider business; it’s great to see our steel sleepers once again being selected for installation in the Australian market,” British Steel Commercial Manager Caroleann Thompson says.

Also last week, British Steel indicated the U.K. Prime Minister was poised to announce a new $45 million contract to supply rail to Turkey’s high-speed passenger network.

The company says the new contract is part of a larger $520 million collection of export deals the prime minister is in the midst of announcing.

“We are proud to have already delivered [nearly $40 million] of our rail products into high-speed projects to help decarbonize travel in Turkey and are delighted to be building upon this with a new supply agreement," British Steel Chief Commercial Officer Lisa Coulson says.