Steel Industry

Steelmaking technology (blast furnace, electric furnace), steel scrap, steel products (crude steel, roll, sheet, magnetic steel sheet, etc.), verticals using steel (automotives, construction materials/construction, aviation), green steel, certification, etc.

While the world aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, steel industry is considered one of the key industries in achieving the goal, since it accounts for about 7% of global CO2 emissions.  In Japan, demand is gradually increasing among automakers and other user companies for steel with low carbon footprints, such as green steel and low-carbon steel.

Decarbonization technologies that can be applied by steelmakers include transitioning to electric furnace steelmaking (using scrap as a raw material), Direct Reduction Iron (DRI) production, use of renewable hydrogen, and CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage). Direction of initiatives differ by region/country. For example, Europe and South Korea seek to commercialize hydrogen DRI, while the United States promote electric furnace steelmaking with high-quality steel scrap.

Meanwhile, Japan, where blast furnace steelmaking is the mainstream, is currently trying multiple technologies to reduce CO2 emissions. Research and development of hydrogen steelmaking is underway by public private partnership, while steelmakers introduce large-scale electric furnaces and procure renewable energy sources.

For this report, Japanese companies in the market are interviewed to find out the trends of steelmaking technology and green steel in Japan, the status of certification systems and environmental initiatives in the industry, and the attempts and future directions of the market players, while referring to overseas case studies. The report analyzes the environment surrounding the steel industry and future outlook in terms of carbon neutrality.

Example of market players:
JFE Steel, Nippon Steel, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Aichi Steel, Toyota Metal, Japan Airlines, Nissan, ZF Grroup, Morimoto Steel Industry, Daiwa House Industry, Taisei Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries