Swiss Steel changes its product range by carbon footprint

Although electric arc furnaces are used in Swiss Steel's scrap-based production, without emissions from the oxygen pathway, the end products bear the footprint of the various ferroalloys used for special bar grades. Therefore, a critical listener asked, "Would customers change their steel product choices in favor of a lower carbon version?"

"First of all, customers look at the type they need, but we're discussing how we can replace some traditional products, for example, you can replace some stainless steels with some engineering steels with similar mechanical properties" replied Baron.

Baron also touched on the energy mix of the group's three main manufacturing countries. Energy in Switzerland is mostly hydroelectric and therefore "green" in nature, while France gets most of its electricity from nuclear power plants and Germany from coal plants. When energy prices skyrocketed last year, he said, "We shifted production from factories in Germany to France, where energy is heavily subsidized by the state and therefore cheaper."