PRESS RELEASE

SSAB and BE Group announce partnership for fossil-free steel

22 May 2023, 08:00

BE Group — a steel service company operating in Sweden, Finland, the Baltic States and Poland — and SSAB have announced a partnership to identify significant new demands and opportunities for fossil-free steel in key markets served by BE Group, especially in manufacturing and construction. By identifying and preparing for upcoming fossil-free opportunities, the partnership will be well positioned to meet BE Group customers’ technical, sustainability, and communication needs.

“We are extremely happy to welcome BE Group Oy as a fossil-free steel partner,” says Lotta Ruottinen, Sales Director, SSAB Europe. “Together, we will contribute to a fossil-free value chain for the Finnish market — all the way to the end customer. We are proud to significantly reduce CO2 emissions together with our new partner.”

“BE Group is focusing on expanding our offering within fossil-free steel to all of our markets,” says Peter Andersson, CEO at BE Group. “And we are very glad that in the future we will have the opportunity to offer SSAB fossil-free steel to our customers in Finland through our Finnish subsidiary, BE Group Oy Ab. This is a step in our sustainability journey to support our customers, whose ambitions are to create a more sustainable future and be among the first to differentiate their products from the competition.”

SSAB and BE Group are taking a long-term perspective on this endeavor, which includes helping BE customers to better understand how to position/market their end products using premium fossil-free steel grades. The partnership also provides BE Group customers with assurances of stability as they make the transition to building fossil-free end products. In turn, the partnership will help SSAB to better plan upcoming production runs for specific grades of fossil-free steels.

As 2026 approaches, and SSAB fossil-free steel production ramps up and BE Group’s fossil- free transportation and other sustainability programs come on-line, BE Group is uniquely positioned to offer life cycle assessment (LCA) solutions to their customers.

SSAB plans to revolutionize the entire steelmaking process. SSAB aims to deliver fossil-free steel to the market at a commercial scale during 2026 and to largely eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from our operations in around 2030. SSAB works with iron ore producer LKAB and energy company Vattenfall as part of the HYBRIT initiative to develop a value chain for fossil free iron- and steelmaking, replacing the coking coal traditionally used for iron ore-based steelmaking with fossil-free electricity and hydrogen. This process virtually eliminates carbon dioxide-emissions in steel production.

For further information, please contact:
BE Group, Peter Andersson, President and CEO, peter.andersson@begroup.com, tel: +46 706 53 76 55

SSAB, Atte Kaksonen, SSAB Corporate Communications, atte.kaksonen@ssab.com, tel. +358 50 3143

About BE Group
BE Group AB (publ), which is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange, is a trading and service company in steel, stainless steel and aluminium. BE Group offers efficient distribution and value-adding production services to customers primarily in the construction and manufacturing industries. In 2022, the Group reported sales of SEK 6.9 billion. BE Group has approximately 650 employees, with Sweden and Finland as its largest markets. The head office is located in Malmö, Sweden. Read more about BE Group at www.begroup.com.

About SSAB
SSAB is a Nordic and US-based steel company. SSAB offers value added products and services developed in close cooperation with its customers to create a stronger, lighter and more sustainable world. SSAB has employees in over 50 countries. SSAB has production facilities in Sweden, Finland and the US. SSAB is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and has a secondary listing on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.ssab.com.