Why steel?
Steel production is responsible for 11% of global energy-related CO2 emissions and the steel industry is the second largest carbon emitter among heavy industries. The steel sector has a key role and responsibility to lower its emissions to mitigate the effects of climate change felt around the world.
Why Hyundai Steel?
Hyundai Steel promotes itself as a sustainability leader. Yet, their emissions in recent years say otherwise. From 2021-2023, the company saw a 2.7% increase in emissions, reaching 29.3 million metric tons of CO2. This is despite the company declaring to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
The majority of Hyundai Steel’s greenhouse gas emissions are generated from coal-burning steelmaking technology called blast furnaces. This is evident as 91% of their emissions come from Dangjin Steelworks, a steel plant where three large blast furnaces are operational.
Hyundai Steel has no plans to address its reliance on coal-dependant blast furnaces. The steelmaker pledged to cut 12% of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, from a 2018 baseline — a target that is not aligned with a 1.5ºC strategy. It also lags significantly behind the plans of its EU and Japanese competitors, such as SSAB and Nippon Steel’s plans to cut emissions between 30% and 50% by 2030.
Nor has Hyundai Steel made any commitment to renewable energy and green hydrogen use. Our recent ranking of major global steelmakers’ renewable energy use found that Hyundai Steel ranked joint-last with fellow South Korean steel maker Dongkuk Steel. Hyundai Steel has declared zero renewable energy use in 2022 and 2023 and provided no details of current renewable energy projects or corporate power purchase agreements.
Renewable energy and green hydrogen are critical to steel decarbonization. Instead of investing in proven technology, Hyundai Steel has announced that it will continue to use fossil fuels and rely on an untested technology called Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) to catch dangerous emissions from its operations and bury them underground.
The company’s commitment to fossil fuels was made clear in March 2024, when it announced a KRW 800 billion (approximately USD 580 million) investment in the construction of a new, 499 megawatt (MW) gas power plant at Dangjin Steel Works. Hyundai Steel says that this gas plant will deliver a reduction in its emissions, but ASL analysis indicates that the plant will significantly increase emissions compared to the electricity grid, by approximately 410,216 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2eq) per annum in 2030.
