American steel giant Nucor Corporation has announced today the launch of Econiq™, a line of net-zero carbon steel products.
According to Nucor, building the green economy and the necessary infrastructure requires clean, advanced steel products. By introducing Econiq, the steelmaker claims it is providing confidence for steel consumers to know they are purchasing the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions steel product available.
Econiq is the first of its kind at scale for the US steel industry, Nucor claims, and will be available across the company's steelmaking product lines.
"The green economy is being built on steel, and Nucor is proving that it can be produced in a sustainable way that can help the world meet its climate goals."
Leon Topalian, president & chief executive officer, Nucor Corporation.
"For more than 50 years, Nucor has been built on a sustainable model of recycling steel to produce new steel and steel products," said Leon Topalian, president and CEO of Nucor Corporation. "The addition of Econiq is a logical extension to our innovation legacy in the steel industry."
Topalian added that General Motors (GM) will be Nucor's first customer for Econiq beginning in Q1 2022.
GM's vice president of global purchasing and supply chain, Shilpan Amin, commended Nucor for its commitment to net-zero carbon steel solutions and said he looked forward to working with the steelmaker to utilise Econiq steel in their vehicles.
"It brings GM one step closer to its vision of a zero emissions future," said Amin. "General Motors is excited to be Nucor's first customer for Econiq as we work to integrate sustainability into all aspects of our supply chain."
According to Nucor, it is projected that all steel purchased by GM from Nucor will be net carbon neutral by the end of 2022.
The company claims that the United States is the cleanest place in the world to make steel, accounting for less than 2% of GHG emissions from the global steel industry. Nucor's use of recycled scrap-based electric arc furnace technology at all of its 24 US mills enables it to operate at 70% below the current GHG intensity for the steel industry and meet even the most aggressive emission intensity benchmarks that are part of the Paris Climate Agreement. Econiq steel, says Nucor, will extend that leadership even further, using 100% renewable electricity and high-quality carbon offsets to negate any remaining Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
Econiq will be available across the complete line of Nucor steelmaking products, but initial quantities will be limited. Immediate interest is expected from automotive and construction customers, and from across the renewable energy and infrastructure sectors.