The international steel and technology group has successfully issued its first green corporate bond, for EUR 500 million. The bond has a term of five years and a coupon of 3.75%, and met with high investor demand. Private investors may also subscribe during the subscription period running from September 26 to October 3, 2024. The entire proceeds of the issue will be used to finance or refinance sustainable voestalpine projects, such as greentec steel.

With a unique flagship project, voestalpine, together with Mercedes-Benz and TSR Recycling, aims to demonstrate the technical feasibility of circular economy projects in the premium segment—from the recycling of post-consumer scrap (“old scrap”) into high-quality scrap to further processing in the steel-producing industry into high-quality steel grades and use in the automotive industry. In this way, the steel and technology Group is making an important contribution to sustainability and at the same time evaluating new opportunities for its increasing demand for scrap in connection with the transformation to green steel production.

voestalpine has produced the world’s first high-quality “green” wire rod from hydrogen-reduced pure iron and scrap at its site in Donawitz. The hydrogen-reduced pure iron was produced in the Hyfor pilot plant, while the landmark melting was carried out in the Group’s own Technikum Metallurgie research facility, a unique small but complete steel plant. The CO₂-reduced steel was further processed in the wire rod mill to produce roller-bearing steel, which is characterized by its particular hardness and wear resistance. The production of high-quality, CO₂-reduced steel grades is one of the biggest technological challenges in the transition to green steel production.

With greentec steel, voestalpine has a clear plan for decarbonizing steel production. voestalpine is not alone in its mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: more and more customers also want to reduce their carbon footprint by using high-quality CO₂-reduced premium steel. The steel and technology Group is already providing 35 companies from various industries with superior steel products in the greentec steel Edition. Designer furniture, wind turbines, and cranes are just a few examples of products that can be manufactured more sustainably through an optimized production process. voestalpine itself recently used the green steel to build a new belt conveyor, which will also supply the planned electric arc furnace (EAF) in Linz with raw materials in the future.

Construction work for Austria’s largest climate protection program is already in full swing. By commissioning Primetals Technologies Austria GmbH to supply the electric arc furnace (EAF)—the technological heart of the transformation to steel production powered by green electricity—voestalpine has taken an important next step in realizing this major project.

Only a few weeks after the official start of construction at the voestalpine site in Donawitz, the traditional groundbreaking ceremony for greentec steel takes place today at the Group’s headquarters in Linz. In the first step of the phased approach, one electric arc furnace (EAF) will be built at each of the sites in Linz and Donawitz. Integrating the two green electricity-powered EAFs into steel production makes it possible to electrify energy-intensive processes, thus reducing CO₂ emissions by around 30% from 2027. This corresponds to an annual saving of almost 4 million tons of CO₂ or 5% of domestic emissions. That makes greentec steel Austria’s largest climate protection program.

greentec steel is the voestalpine Group’s ambitious and feasible phased plan for green steel production. In a first step, one electric arc furnace will be constructed at each of the Linz and Donawitz sites. Converting to this technology allows the steel and technology Group to reduce its emissions by around 30%, representing annual savings of almost 4 million tons of CO₂. The investment volume is around EUR 1.5 billion. This traditional groundbreaking ceremony marks the start of construction at the Donawitz site, and this major investment will bring significant economic benefits to the region.

A year ago, the Supervisory Board of voestalpine AG gave the green light to conduct the preliminary work for climate friendly steel production in Austria. This is now at an advanced stage. Now the next approval stage has been reached. An investment of around 1.5 billion euros is being made into constructing one electric arc furnace at each of the two sites, Linz and Donawitz. As part of its “greentec steel” plan, the plant and supplier decision will be made in 2023, construction will start in 2024, and commissioning of the two units will take place in 2027. This will allow the Group to reduce its CO₂ emissions by up to 30 percent from 2027. The exact start of implementation depends on clarifying unresolved funding issues in Austria.

voestalpine is successfully driving forward the further expansion of its technology and innovation leadership and has budgeted around EUR 196 million for research and development (R&D) expenditure in the current business year. The steel and technology group claims that R&D projects make a positive contribution to sustainability. Research priorities include the digitalization of production processes, the development of innovative products and the transition to climate-neutral steel production.

In addition to direct greenhouse gas emissions from production (Scope 1), the Group is now also setting itself ambitious goals to reduce Scope 2 emissions (energy-related) and Scope 3 emissions (raw materials, transport, etc.). These target reductions will be scientifically evaluated within the framework of the independent Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to ensure their compatibility with the Paris goals, and, following detailed examination, validated correspondingly.