Outokumpu invests in biocarbon plant

The plant will be built in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Northeastern Germany, utilizing existing infrastructure and buildings at the Mukran Port. The planned annual production capacity is 15kt of biocarbon using waste wood as raw material. The commissioning of the site is scheduled for the first half of 2026. The new plant will provide feedstock material for biocoke to Outokumpu’s pelletizing plant in Tornio, Finland, which is on schedule and expected to be completed mid-2025. Biocoke is used as a reductant in Outokumpu’s ferrochrome production.

Approximately 50% of Outokumpu’s direct emissions could be reduced by replacing fossil coke with biocoke, the company has said.

“We are proud that our stainless steel has the lowest carbon footprint in the industry, and we are progressing steadily towards our target to reduce our emission intensity across our direct, indirect and supply chain emissions by 42% by 2030 from a 2016 base year. Currently, biocoke represents the best available technology to decrease our direct emissions and we are investigating also other innovations as well as the use of carbon capture technology to achieve further reductions,” commented Stefan Erdmann, chief technology officer at Outokumpu.

“Biomass-based raw materials offer exciting possibilities for Outokumpu to cut direct emissions. I’m proud of our team’s innovative thinking in developing an industrial concept that ensures technical readiness and financial viability for the new investment, driving progress in the green transition today. We want to take an active role in developing the biocoke market which will give us scale-up and new business opportunities also going forward,'' added Timo Huhtala, general manager, Outokumpu EvoCarbon, a unit responsible for building up biocoke supply and investigating new technologies and investments opportunities in carbon capture and new energy projects at Outokumpu.