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Emsteel doubles down on green steel production

28 May 2025

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Abu Dhabi-based Emsteel plans to expand its sustainability efforts by establishing an ‘iron eco hub’ in the emirate, group CEO Saeed Ghumran Al-Remeithi said on the opening day of the World Utilities Congress in Abu Dhabi.

This next step aims to position the UAE as a global leader in the production of clean steel and serve as a model for industrial decarbonisation.

Emsteel is the only steelmaker in the Middle East to use green hydrogen on a pilot basis to produce green steel. The firm, along with Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), inaugurated a pilot green hydrogen plant at its manufacturing complex in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi, in October.

The pilot facility uses 2.1MW of green hydrogen to produce 5,000 tonnes of green steel.

While the output remains below the global average, Al-Remeithi highlighted the significance of the project during a fireside chat at the congress.

“It is a great project for green hydrogen production with Masdar,” he said, adding that the pilot initiative has proven the viability of green steel production.

ALSO READ: Emsteel and Yellow Door Energy sign 31MW solar project

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Emsteel operates 16 plants with an annual production capacity of 3.5 million tonnes a year (t/y) of steel and 4.6 million t/y of cement. The company exports its products to over 70 markets, which account for 30% of its sales.

The company was formed in late 2021 as a result of a merger between Emirates Steel and Arkan Building Materials. This established the UAE’s largest steel and construction materials company, valued at $3.53bn.

“We are one of the largest steel and building materials manufacturers in the UAE,” Al-Remeithi affirmed at the fireside chat.

Decarbonisation efforts

In February, Emsteel announced plans to achieve a 40% reduction in absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its steel business unit and a 30% reduction in its cement business unit by 2030, using 2019 as the baseline year. The ultimate goal is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Emsteel aims to significantly reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in the coming years. The group has already made substantial progress in reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, as well as emissions intensity during 2019 and 2023.

As of 2023, Emsteel’s total Scope 1 and 2 emissions stood at 4.5 million tonnes of CO₂, which is 23% below the baseline year of 2019.

“Decarbonisation is important for the whole UAE and not just Emsteel. Globally, steel and cement account for 15% of global CO2 emissions. In steel production, our emissions are 45% less than the global average, while in cement, we are 50% less,” Al-Remeithi said.

“We have really invested in our plants for the past 15 years to get low emissions,” he said.

The group CEO further said: “We have had a partnership with Adnoc since 2017 on a project to capture CO2 underground. We started with an $80m initial capital budget. More than 600,000 t/y of CO2 has been captured to date.”

The technology for decarbonising steel production is available, Al-Remeithi remarked during the fireside chat, adding that “about 70% of the steel in the world is produced in blast furnaces, while about 30% through direct reduced iron. We are in the 30% category, so we have an advantage.”

“We are in a really great position today. And we can lead the decarbonisation of steel. The ecosystem is ready and helps us lead efforts,” he concluded.

ALSO READ: Emsteel to invest $170m in output capacity expansion

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Indrajit Sen

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