Nippon Steel wants one electric arc furnace in Košice

New Japanese owner Nippon Steel submitted to authorities a decarbonization plan worth hundreds of millions for the Košice steel mill, under which it intends to build a new electric arc furnace by end‑2030 with an annual production capacity of 1.5–2.1m tons. The previous owner had planned to replace coal with electricity in two of three blast furnaces and invest over €1.5bn. The new furnace could cover nearly half of the current 4.5m‑ton capacity (last year’s output was around 3.5m tons), targeting a 56% reduction in CO₂ emissions and a 25% cut in nitrogen oxide emissions. It will consume 2 TWh of electricity annually, compared with last year’s mill consumption of 1.7 TWh. Sources at Denník E say Nippon Steel will build a second electric furnace in Košice if the EU continues to support greener steel production and protects its market against imports.

(dennikN.sk, forbes.sk)