Arcelormittal Bremen: Stop of green steel production provides protests!

ArcelorMittal stoppt CO2-reduzierte Stahlproduktion in Bremen; während wirtschaftliche Lage und Zukunft des Werks ungewiss bleiben.
Arcelormittal stops CO2-reduced steel production in Bremen; remain uncertain during the economic situation and future of the work. (Symbolbild/MB)

Arcelormittal Bremen: Stop of green steel production provides protests!

Bremen, Deutschland - The location in the Bremen steel mill of ArcelorMittal is currently causing excitement. On the occasion of the latest developments, the company announced that it will not initially invest in CO2-reduced production. This decision has caused a lot of conversation. According to Buten and Binnen there are contradictory reports in relation to the economic situation of the plant. While the Bremen Senator for Economic Affairs Kristina Vogt (left) describes the work as "highly profitable", the CEO of Arcelormittal Bremen, Rainer Böse, contradicts the fact that the work has written losses in the past two years.

The IG Metall, represented by the managing director Ute Buggel, supports this assessment. Buggel confirms the losses and emphasizes that the work is powerful but has been writing red numbers for a long time. This does not correspond to Vogt's advertising -effective claim. Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD) also highlighted the strength of the Bremen work at a rally with over 2,000 Arcelor employees.

Stop the decarbonization causes unrest

In the meantime, IG Metall has sharply criticized the stop of environmentally friendly steel production together with the works council of the Bremen Stahlwerk. According to ZDF today, consider this step as a serious threat to the future of the Bremen location. Planned company meetings have been canceled, instead IG Metall mobilizes for a larger rally. ArcelorMittal has discontinued the plans for decarbonizing the flat steelworks in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt, a decision that is considered shocking in view of the support funds of the traffic light government in 2024.

The federal government had provided a total of 1.3 billion euros in funding for the locations in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt to support the switch to green steel production. Now there is a question of how things will go after the funds are not used by the decision. The construction of a direct reduction system, which was originally supposed to work with natural gas and in the future with green hydrogen, was also put on hold.

look into the future of the steel industry

The challenges for the steel industry are enormous, and not only in Bremen. The EU Commission presented an action plan that puts the industry under pressure to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. A positive example in this context is Salzgitter AG, which is making important progress in decarbonization, such as "https://www.iwr.de/news/dekarbonization-der-stahl industrie-Salzgitter-AGT-WIELTE-MIENTESTONE-BEI- CO2-Reduction-in-News39038" Class = "Source_3"> IWR reported. At the Salzgitter location, the production of green steel is already being actively worked on, a sign of the direction in which the industry could develop if corresponding framework conditions are created.

In this context, the left-wing boss Ines Schwerdtner describes the decision of ArcelorMittal as a "alarm signal for the industrial location of Germany". The Bremen Senate reacts disappointed to the cancellation of the decarbonization plans after 250 million euros have already been invested in the conversion of the steel mill. It remains to be seen how the situation will develop and which measures are necessary to secure the competitiveness of the Bremen work and the German steel industry as a whole.

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OrtBremen, Deutschland
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