The Green Steel Challenge

The European steel industry is facing an existential crisis: energy prices are high, demand from key sectors is weak, and cheap imports are affecting competitiveness. How can decarbonisation go ahead in these challenging conditions?

In the first episode of Season 4, we sit down with Stefan Rauber, CEO of Saarstahl and chairman of the SHS - Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co. KGaA group, which has embarked on a €4.6 billion programme to shift toward green steel by building two electric arc furnaces and a DRI plant, alongside increased use of hydrogen.

In conversation with The Green Steel Challenge co-hosts, Astrid Korf and James Moss, Stefan talks through the company's decarbonisation plans and how it's leaning into its multi-century experience to build the steel industry of the future. The discussion covers European carbon policy, the green steel premium, decommissioning, and buyers' demand for low-carbon products, finding an answer to a difficult question: is it economically worth it?

Access our comprehensive Green Steel Glossary at Kallanish Commodities.
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As season 3 of the Green Steel Challenge draws to an end, join Astrid, James and Mike as they reflect on the highlights.

Since January, a lot of ground has been covered through an eclectic mix of industry perspectives, from Tata Steel’s view on electrification and wider system change, to geologic hydrogen with Koloma, advanced nuclear power with newcleo, and the growing strategic value of scrap in the steel transition.

With insights from leaders at U. S. Steel, Vale, UK Steel and others, the second half of the season has examined the practical business strategies, policy choices, and technology pathways shaping the future of steel.
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Marcel Genet, Independent Steel & Metals Consultant and Founder & Managing Director, Laplace Conseil in Neuilly, France. Marcel has been a consultant in the steel industry for 47 years, first with McKinsey & Company, where he built and led the Firm’s Global Steel Practice. 1995, he founded Laplace Conseil, a boutique strategy firm, where he has predominantly worked with the scrap recycling and EAF minimill sectors.

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Gareth Stace, Director General of UK Steel, the voice of the UK steel industry.

Gareth represents producers at a critical moment, where competitiveness, energy costs, and decarbonisation are colliding

From policy and trade to the realities of transitioning legacy assets, he sits right at the intersection of industry and government, helping shape what the future of British steel will look like.

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Dave Burritt, President and CEO of US STEEL, one of the most iconic names in global steel.

Under Dave’s leadership, U.S. Steel has gone through a fundamental transformation: reshaping its asset base, investing heavily in electric arc furnaces, and positioning itself for a lower-carbon future, while still operating some of the most demanding blast furnace assets in the world. And of course, he led the groundbreaking partnership between U. S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel.

Dave is known for being pragmatic rather than ideological when it comes to decarbonization. He talks about what can scale, what can be financed, and what can actually be delivered in today’s steel markets.
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