Outokumpu invests in waste wood-utilising biocarbon plant

Outokumpu, a leader in sustainable stainless steel has decided to invest EUR 40 million for building a high quality biocarbon production plant in Germany.
Approximately EUR 10 million of the capital expenditure is included in the CAPEX frame related to Outokumpu’s second strategy phase and the company remains committed to maintaining the maximum CAPEX frame of EUR 600 million between 2023–2025.
The plant will be built in the city of Sassnitz in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Northeastern Germany, utilising existing infrastructure and buildings at the Mukran Port.
The planned annual production capacity is 15,000 tonnes 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 pelletising 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, said the company.
“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," said Stefan Erdmann, chief technology officer at Outokumpu.
"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.”