Recently, the cornerstone was laid for one of the largest production plants for green hydrogen in the whole of Europe. Starting from 2026, the plant will generate around 9,000 tons of green hydrogen a year to be used for the production of carbon-reduced steel. This will mark the start of the industrial use of hydrogen in SALCOS® - Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking. SALCOS® is aiming for virtually carbon-free steel production. The 100 MW electrolysis plant will be supplied on an EPC basis by the international technology company ANDRITZ, using the pressurized alkaline electrolysis technology of HydrogenPro.
Gerd Baresch, Managing Director Technical division of Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH, explains: “Today’s cornerstone laying represents a further major step in our SALCOS® program. This shows that the transformation of our company to low-carbon steel production is progressing on schedule. With this system for on-site hydrogen production, we are fulfilling our side of the bargain. The onus is now on governments to create suitable framework conditions for green production. The priorities here are competitive grid costs and a committed incentivization for promoting of the hydrogen economy.”
Sami Pelkonen, Executive Vice President, Green Hydrogen at ANDRITZ, adds: “We are very proud to be making a contribution to the conversion to climate-friendly steel with the laying of the cornerstone today for our 100 MW electrolysis plant. Our extensive experience in the construction of major plants provides us with a solid foundation for realizing this innovative project. It fits perfectly with our long-term growth strategy which is focused on decarbonization and supports our customers such as Salzgitter in mastering their green transformation.”
SALCOS® is being realized in stages and it consists of a direct reduction plant, an electric arc furnace (both already under construction) and the 100 MW electrolysis plant for the production of hydrogen. Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH will launch products using the new route on the market as early as 2026. Conversion to virtually carbon-free steel production at the Salzgitter facility is due to be completed by 2033.
Mondi, a global leader in the production of sustainable packaging and paper, recently published its results for the 12 months to 31 December 2024.
Underlying EBITDA amounted to €1,049 million, including €7 million forestry fair value gain (2023: €1,201 million including €128 million forestry fair value gain).
The company started up five major capacity expansion projects – on time and within budget – including the new paper machine at Štětí (Czech Republic) that commenced operations ahead of plan in December 2024. Mondi also completed the acquisition of Hinton pulp mill (Canada), and agreed acquisition of Schumacher’s Western Europe Packaging Assets
Andrew King, Mondi Group Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“Mondi demonstrated resilience through the year in the face of ongoing difficult trading conditions, characterised by soft demand and a challenging pricing environment. This resilience highlights the strength of our cost-competitive, strategically located integrated assets and our great people. Furthermore, our ability to adapt with agility and flexibility to market uncertainties, combined with our unwavering focus on product quality, reliability and innovation in offering a diverse portfolio of sustainable packaging and paper solutions, has been central to delivering value to our stakeholders.
“In 2024 Mondi successfully started up five major capacity expansion projects on time and within budget building a strong platform for growth. The largest of these, the new paper machine at Štětí (Czech Republic), commenced operations ahead of schedule in December. We are very appreciative of the commitment of our colleagues who have worked tirelessly over the last few years to deliver these projects. Our focus now turns to executing our operational and commercial strategy and leveraging our expanded product offering.
“Disciplined capital allocation to deliver value accretive growth remains a strategic priority and, alongside our investment in organic growth opportunities, we were pleased to announce the acquisition of the Western Europe Packaging Assets of Schumacher Packaging, which will expand our geographic reach and deliver integration benefits in our Corrugated Packaging business.
"Reflecting the importance of shareholder returns and our continued confidence in the future of the business, the Board has recommended a total ordinary dividend for 2024 in line with last year, at 70.0 euro cents per share.
"As we move into 2025, while significant macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties remain, we are currently seeing improving order books across our packaging businesses and are implementing price increases across our range of packaging paper grades. With our culture of continuous improvement, we are focused on managing costs and driving productivity, alongside ramping up our new capacity expansion projects.
“The demand for sustainable products is providing many opportunities for Mondi and is a key driver of our growth. Our investments over the last few years, enhancing our unique packaging and paper platform and product offering for our customers, will support this growth.”
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