A SUSTAINABLE

CHOICE

www.canadiansteel.ca

#WeAreCdnSteel

Canada's Steel Industry:

Steel is an essential material in ourevolving world. It is in demand for thetechnologies and applications of modernsociety. And it will continue to be integralfor the future.

The Canadian Steel Producers are proudof our contribution to the circulareconomy and the overall sustainabilityof our processes. Working with this100% recyclable material, we knowfirsthand the benefits of its durability,reduced emissions, and the resultingconservation of raw materials.

The industry continues to makesignificant improvements in itsenvironmental emissions profile and hasreduced its greenhouse gas emissionsby approximately 25% since 1990.However, we recognize that we muststrive to seek ways to do more.

Canada is poised to be a global leader infighting climate change. Members of theCSPA are ready to work on this globalchallenge and call on our governmentsand partners to support us. You will findin the following pages our ideas andperspectives on how we can moveforward together for a greener, moresustainable future.

CATHERINE COBDENPRESIDENT, CANADIAN STEEL

PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION

The Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) isthe national voice of Canada’s $15 billion steelindustry. Our member companies annually produceapproximately 13 million tonnes of primary steel aswell as over 1 million tonnes of steel pipe and tubeproducts in facilities located across Canada.Domestic steel operations directly employ some23,000 Canadians while supporting an additional100,000 indirect jobs.

Canadian steel producers are a critical component ofCanada’s economy and industrial base, serving theneeds of North American customers with highquality, competitive, and innovative products. Keymarket segments for member companies include:automotive; energy discovery, extraction, andtransport; major infrastructure projects;commercial/residential construction; renewableenergy creation; and many general manufacturingapplications.

CSPA is committed to fostering a strong andsustainable future for Canada’s vital steel producersand enabling our members to prosper in bothdomestic and international markets.

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WE ARE CANADIAN STEEL

Energy discovery,extraction, & transport

AutomotiveCommercial & residentialconstruction

Majorinfrastructure

projects

Renewableenergy

creation

Other generalmanufacturing

applications

Canadian Steel Markets

Responsibly Produced

Steel is 100% recyclable and the most recycled material in the world. Canadiansteel producers are an integral part of the global circular economy by playing apivotal role in the recycling of steel and other metals. Canadian producerscontinue to improve their environmental stewardship by adopting innovativetechnologies and by ensuring best practices across their operations.

Vital Economic Engine

The Canadian steel industry has a long, proud history as a cornerstone of theCanadian economy. Steel is inextricably linked with Canada’s economic growthand prosperity. Steel producers are significant employers in Canada and enableeconomic growth as a critical supplier to other key sectors, such asmanufacturing, infrastructure, transportation, and energy.

Essential for Everyday Life

Steel is everywhere in our lives and essential to modern society. Canadianproducers provide steel for automobiles, buildings, and infrastructure such asrail, roads, and bridges. Canadian steel is also essential in the energy industry:from drilling and extraction to processing and distributing to renewable energyproduction.

THE CORNERSTONE OF THE

CANADIAN ECONOMY

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CANADA’S STEEL

PRODUCERS HAVE THE

AMBITION TO ACHIEVE

NET-ZERO CO2

EMISSIONS BY 2050.

This is our aspirational goal. We believe it can beachieved if we work with our governments andother stakeholders. 

Creating unique partnerships& research collaborations

Developing & adoptingbreakthrough clean technologies &innovative products

Driving operational excellencethrough state of the artmanufacturing

Levelling the playing field &supporting carbon advantages ofdomestic use of Canadian steel

Ensuring global leaderership insustainability, energy management,& environmental best practices

Our climate approach is based uponachieving five key conditions forsuccess:

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We believe that together we can secure the significantcapital investments and partnerships needed toimplement transformational change and leveragebreakthrough technologies over the next 30 years.

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Recycle all carbon pricing revenuesfrom the steel sector back into theindustry to support the developmentof low-emission technologies;

The magnitude of the challenge facing the steel

sector in implementing this strategy is immense.

Maximize compliance mechanisms(such as carbon offsets) to manageemissions and associated regulatoryburden linked to the path to lowcarbon transformation;

Deepen existing innovationprogramming and secure additionalfunding to drive research, cleantechnology development,demonstration, and adoption of lowcarbon technologies in the steel sectorand our supply chain, and ensurecoordination across departments andgovernments;

Expand access to abundant low/zerocarbon energy supplies for domesticsteelmaking operations;

Develop procurement policies andenabling tools both federally andprovincially that recognize theinherent carbon benefits of Canadiansteel in domestic infrastructureprojects; and

Establish a Canadian steel climatecouncil with key governmentdepartments to monitor and reporton the progress of the sector’sclimate strategy, to share practices,to engage with other stakeholders,and to evolve the plan as newinformation and insights emerge;

Ensure that steel entering Canadafrom countries with higher carbonemissions are held to equivalentstandards and costs. The use ofborder measures should beexplored.

IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN:

IMMEDIATE ACTIONS

We must work with all governments, stakeholders, customers, and the supplychain to achieve our vision of a low-carbon steel sector. A robust approach ofpolicies, tools, and programs are critical to enabling the deployment of low-emissions steelmaking.

To support the realization of this strategy, CSPA members are seekingtools that include:

CANADA'S STEEL PRODUCERS'

VISION FOR A MORE

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

THE DETAILS

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STEEL SECTOR'S CLIMATE CHANGE

CALL TO ACTION

Canada’s steel producers have the aspirational goal to achieve net-zero CO emissions by 2050. This means that we must significantly reduce net CO emissions including through removal or offsets.

In order to achieve this aspirational goal, we need to work with stakeholders, includingsuppliers, customers, and government, to implement transformational changes andbreakthrough technologies.

This includes significant capital investments, public-private partnerships, and policiesthat support the industry during the transition.

Given the scope of the effort and investment needed, the steelsector cannot do it alone.

This call to action is to seek supportand invite others to join us todevelop and implement newpartnerships and solutions that willaddress climate emissions locallyand globally.

Steel making is carbon intensive andthere are no proven, commerciallyviable, low carbon alternatives tomany aspects of our productionprocesses in the near term.

To make the changes necessary todrastically reduce our greenhousegas emissions, we must develop andadopt new breakthroughtechnologies.

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We be l ieve that Canada ’ sg lobal leadersh ip toaddress c l imate change ,coupled wi th thecommitment for act ionby the domest ic s tee lindustry , i s a rec ipe forlong - term success .

We are seeking support to create aninnovation ecosystem dedicated tosupporting the steel sector’s transitionto the low carbon economy. 

From deeper engagement of Canada’sacademic brain trust to improved accessto demonstration capital to risk sharingmechanisms for first commercializationand adoption, we envision aninnovation pipeline that can accelerateour transformation.

We are also calling for the immediaterecognition of the domestic steelindustry’s unique carbon advantage inCanadian projects. CSPA’s membershave a greenhouse gas emission profilethat is significantly less than foreignsteel being shipped to Canada fromChina and other far-off places.

This is an important opportunity toensure that inherent carbon benefits ofCanadian steel in domestic projects arerecognized in procurement projectsacross the country.

We also know that our existingelectricity grid and more renewable andnon-emitting energy sources on thisgrid will play a critically important roleto further differentiating our productsgoing forward.

Canada can play a vital role in findingsolutions for the global steel industrywhile still ensuring the ongoingcompetitiveness of our domestic sector.

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We cannot rest on our laurels. There is an urgent need to build onthe early success of Canada’s steel sector’s collaborative efforts.

The size and pace of investment needed to develop and adopt theneeded new technological breakthroughs dictate that the steel sectorcannot do it alone. There is a need for strong and uniquepartnerships (government, industry, educational institutions, etc.) toovercome the significant technological, economic, and business risksassociated with this transformation.  We need a strong innovation system to drive ideation and creativity.The steel sector hopes to inspire more Canadian academics to thisimmense challenge. We hope to spawn new research areas drivingtoward our emission reduction goals. We hope to work with Canada’sacademic research councils including the National Sciences andEngineering Council of Canada (NSERC) to identify ways the steelsector can attract academics to this challenge. The steel sector willsupport partnerships focused on developing solutions. Supportingcapital renewal is required so that Canada can move quickly onfunding research, pilots, and commercialization.

CREATING UNIQUE PARTNERSHIPS

& RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS

Canada’s steel sector has demonstrated its ability to embracecollaboration. A key example includes its decarbonization collaborationefforts through the Canadian Carbonization Research Association(CCRA). The CCRA is undertaking early research into a handful ofpromising technologies and is comprised of Canada’s integrated steelproducers, its existing metallurgical coal suppliers, and the CanadianCentre for Mineral and Energy Technology (CANMET), the federalgovernment’s research lab.  It is clear the industry has made significant moves in environmentalstewardship. Yet we cannot rest on our laurels when there is more thatcan be done. There is an urgent need to build on the early success ofCanada’s steel sector’s collaborative efforts.

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DEVELOPING & ADOPTING

BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGIES AND

NOVEL PRODUCTS

In order to drastically reduce the overall greenhouse gas emissions from theproduction of steel, the development of breakthrough technologies is crucial.

According to worldsteel, promising new technologies are being explored around theworld. Some projects are in the early research stage while others are in pilot ordemonstration phase and none are currently commercially viable.

The Canadian

steel industry

believes that a

range of

technologies

is needed to

reduce

greenhouse

gas emissions.

Hydrogen as a reducing agent foriron ore and a fuel to replace fossilbased carbon.

Carbon capture and storage, aswell as carbon capture andutilization.

Electrification of fossil fuelprocesses such as reheat furnaces,stoves, ladle preheat furnaces,boilers, and building heat.

Biomass and other wood residuesas reducing agents to replace coal.

Iron ore reduction byelectrolysis.

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* worldsteel represents steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes. Members representaround 85% of global steel production.

It will be very important to have low carbonproduction of electricity, hydrogen, andoxygen inputs to these new processes toensure a net reduction in global carbonemissions.

Furthermore, in many applications, steelhas a very long service life and as a resultthe contribution of modern steels inimproving the energy efficiency ofbuildings, plants, machinery andtransportation is very important.

Additionally, while steel already has a longservice life, innovation in high strength andnovel so-called modern steels improves theenergy efficiency of buildings, plants,machinery, and transportation.

These modern steels also yield asignificant reduction in weight, energyuse, and overall greenhouse gasemissions.

According to worldsteel* avoidedgreenhouse gas emissions from the useof high-grade applications are on averagesix times higher than the greenhouse gasemissions from the production of theseadvanced steels.

A key contribution of the steel industry isto continue to work closely with itscustomers to optimize the design and useof steel as Canada transitions into a low-carbon economy. These are someexamples of steel advantages that shouldbe recognized and applied to theaspirational goal.

Continued improvements in the steel supply chain,particularly through continued evolution of manufacturingtechnologies, will drive continued yield improvement from

steel production to final steel in products, equipment,buildings, and infrastructure. 

The steel industry has made significantreductions in greenhouse gasemissions in the past decades byimproving energy efficiency, anddeploying operational technologiesand practices resulting in benefits tothe environment and economy.

We have also adopted process controltechnology and other innovativetechnologies, such as robotics, toimprove our process reliability,production yields, and overallproduction efficiencies to reducelosses and the amount of energy usedto produce each tonne of steel.However, there is limited room forfurther improvement based on existingtechnology.

The adoption of new technologies tofurther advance and optimize steelmanufacturing software controlsystems will continue to driveimprovements in our sector.

DRIVING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

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We are unlikely to see a level playing fieldon carbon reduction requirements acrossthe world in the near term.

As a global climate leader, Canada has anopportunity and, indeed, an obligation toensure climate considerations areembedded in a wide array of policies andprograms that reward climate moversand support the low carbon transition ofits domestic industry and economy.

To this end, the Canadian steel producersbelieve that procurement policies andtrade measures such as carbon borderadjustments must be reviewed to ensurethat carbon leakage is prevented.

Simply placing carbon burden onCanada’s domestic steel industry withoutrecognizing the lack of carbon burden onour competition would place us at asignificant competitive disadvantage.

Given Canada’s climate leadership, the country must be atthe forefront of the development and implementation of

enabling policies and programs that ensure both our low carbontransformation and the maintenance of our competitive

position.

LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD & SUPPORT

CANADIAN STEEL'S CARBON

ADVANTAGE

Global steel markets continue to evolve at a rapid pace and thecompetition for steel is exacerbated by a global overcapacity ofroughly 440M tonnes according to the OECD.

The need has never been greater for the sector to ensure a strongdomestic marketplace, to evolve sustainably through innovation, andto ensure competitive advantages are built and protected in the faceof these changing dynamics.

Energy management and efficiency practices are a fundamental aspect of ongoingimprovements to the sector’s greenhouse gas emission profile. We have placedsignificant effort on improving operational and energy efficiency, resulting in adramatic improvement over the years.

Moreover, ongoing efforts with the federal government continue to provide updatedtools in support of the adoption of energy best practices and the implementation oftechnologies that maximize the benefits of Canada’s ever-greening electricity grid.

As part of our climate strategy, it is critical that we have access to energy for ouroperations across Canada at a cost that allows us to compete. Access to renewableenergy serves as a dual opportunity for our sector with anticipated greenhouse gasreductions given our high energy demand, as well as our unique role as a key supplierto the renewable energy market. Renewable and non-fossil energy solutions, such as nuclear and hydro-electric, requiresteel for foundations, buildings, mounting racks, and, importantly, the transmission gridto connect it all. With the low CO footprint of domestic steel, policies that consider thelifecycle costs of all components will be a win-win for the environment and theeconomy.

ENSURING GLOBAL LEADERSHIP IN

SUSTAINABILITY, ENERGY MANAGEMENT

AND ENVIRONMENTAL BEST PRACTICES

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STEEL AND THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

As a permanent material that can be recycled over and over again without losing itsproperties, steel is fundamental to the circular economy. The industry has continuedto expand its offer of advanced, high-strength steels, which reduce the weight ofapplications and encourage circular economy practices.

For society, the benefits include reduced emissions, durable products that simply lasta long time, and the conservation of raw materials for future generations. Steel isessential to our evolving world. It is essential to the technologies and solutions thatmeet society’s needs today – and will continue to do so into the future.

The Canadian steel sector is a key contributor to the circular economy through oursignificant capacity to infinitely recycle steel into new products. Today, materialefficiency is an integral part of the modern steelmaking process.

Our goal is to use all raw materials to their full capacity, ensuring minimal waste andguaranteeing that almost every co-product formed during steelmaking is used in newproducts. In addition, many of our co-products are utilized for other applications incommerce and industries. This approach minimizes the amount of waste sent tolandfill, reduces emissions, and preserves raw materials.

"Steel is essential

to our evolving

world."

* Source: worldsteel

In a truly circular economy, products thatstop working are restored to “as new”conditions in a process known asremanufacturing. Steel is 100%recyclable, easily recoverable from wastestreams, and can be repurposedinfinitely. This, in combination with a longhistory of significant efforts to increaserecycling rates, has resulted in steel’splace as a leader in the circular economyas well as leading the country’s and theworld’s recycling statistics.

In Canada today, an importantproportion of our production is based onrecycled scrap feedstock. The use of steelscrap reduces carbon emissions from thesteel life cycle and should serve as anoffset. Only truly recycled materials,which are never downgraded but areused again and again with no loss ofproperties, can enable a sustainablefuture. The non-renewable resourcesused to make steel, like minerals andfossil fuels, are not wasted because thesteel will be used forever. It is also amaterial that will be essential in thestrategies for climate change adaptationand resilience.

100%Almost 100% of allthe steel industry'sco-products can be

reused

97%of the steel industry's

raw materials wereconverted into steel or

co-products (2018)

the amount ofraw steel material

that becamewaste (2018)

2.7%

Over the past 50 years, the steelindustry has invested in research andtechnology to create grades of advancedsteels. For example, by reducing theweight, the amount of raw materials andenergy used to create the product isdecreased, reducing pressure on rawmaterials. Lighter weight applicationswhich take advantage of high-strengthsteels, such as vehicles, also producefewer emissions during the “use” phaseof their life.

Whether it is a wind turbine,construction panel, vehicle, or steel can,the application of high-strength steelsmeans that less steel is required toprovide the same strength andfunctionality. Steel’s durability alsoenables many products to be reused atthe end of their life. As well as extendingthe product’s life cycle, reuse avoids theneed to transport and re-melt the steeland to create new products. This hassignificant advantages for theenvironment and maximizes the use ofresources.

* Source: worldsteel

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We are excited about the

monumental benefits our

climate aspiration has the

potential to deliver, and

we look forward to

taking this challenge

forward, in collaboration

with all of our partners,

including government.

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Contact Us

Canadian Steel Producers Assocationcanadiansteel.ca

@CSPA_ACPA