ArcelorMittal has withdrawn from its green steel projects in Germany. The company says its former goals are no longer feasible in the current market environment. Meanwhile, workers fear for their jobs.
00:00This is how international steel giant ArcelorMittal envisioned its future, with a company producing green steel in their German plants in Eisenhüttenstadt and Bremen, all on newly refitted machines.
00:14At least that's what the company's image film shows.
00:18ArcelorMittal has been promised 1.3 billion euros in subsidies to replace the old climate-busting furnaces with modern electric arc furnaces.
00:29But now, the company has ended its efforts to produce climate-friendly steel in Germany.
00:35The reason, it can't be done profitably in the current market environment.
00:40In Bremen, the news was met with shock and fears for jobs.
00:44Ute Bugeln is the local employee's representative.
00:48Among the responsibilities a company has are that they have to risk something,
00:52that they have to invest even when things aren't entirely clear, to work towards progress.
00:57And with that in mind, ArcelorMittal is not working diligently.
01:03Other steel producers in Germany, among them ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, Salzgitter and the Stahlholding Saar, were propped up to the tune of 5.7 billion euros.
01:15Their aim is to use hydrogen to produce climate-friendly steel.
01:20But one of them, ThyssenKrupp, agreed that there are economic challenges.
01:23At the German Institute for the Economy, they are critical of ArcelorMittal's decision.
01:29I'm not necessarily expecting a chain reaction.
01:35Other companies have said that they will stick to their plans and work towards green steel.
01:40The government has to keep supporting that.
01:43But they actually already are, with high subsidies.
01:46It's clear that the green steel business is still a young one.
01:52And hydrogen, too, is not expanding as fast as some had hoped.
01:57The problem?
01:58High energy prices across Germany.
02:01Despite subsidies, producing green steel is a tightrope act.
02:06The city of Bremen for now is worried about its place in the industry.
02:10The question is, did ArcelorMittal make the right decision?
02:16From a business perspective, that seems likely.
02:19But with regards to politics and responsibility, I think they made a mistake.
02:24ArcelorMittal was not willing to talk to us.
02:27Investors so far have welcomed the company pulling the plug on green steel.
