SSAB Luleå steel plant

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SSAB Luleå steel plant is a blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) steel plant operating in Luleå, Norrbotten, Sweden.

Location

The map below shows the exact location of the plant in Luleå, Norrbotten, Sweden:

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• Location: SE-971 88 Luleå, Sweden
• Coordinates (WGS 84): 65.559719, 22.219699 (exact)

Background

The SSAB Lulea steel plant — then owned and built by the government — began operating in 1941 using BF and BOF technology. In 1973, a second blast furnace became operational.

In 2013, two contractors working on the site fell into a cistern of tar and died.

In 2020, SSAB announced the start of its HYBRIT (fossil-free steel-making technology) pilot plant for sponge iron at Luleå, which was a joint venture with LKAB and Vattenfall.

SSAB aims to convert the SSAB Luleå steel plant blast furnace (BF) to a 100% renewables-based hydrogen direct reduced iron (H-DRI) and electric arc furnace (EAF) facility between 2030-2040. SSAB plans to bring fossil-free steel to the steel market by 2026 through operations at the SSAB Oxelösund steel plant. SSAB also aims to make 1.5 million tonnes of "fossil-free steel" a year as of 2026, compared to its current production of 7.5 million tonnes a year.

Plant Details

Table 1: General Plant Details

Phase	Plant status	Announced date	Construction date	Start date	Pre-retirement announcement date	Retired date	Workforce size	Power source
Main plant	Operating	–	–	1941	–	–	1200	–
Closure	Operating pre-retirement	–	–	–	2022-01	2030	–	–
Expansion	Operating	2016	2018	2021	–	–	200	fossil-free
Expansion	Announced	2022-01	2024	2030	–	–	–	–

Table 2: Ownership and Parent Company Information

Phase	State-owned entity status	Parent company	Parent company PermID	Parent company GEM ID	Owner	Owner company PermID	Owner company GEM ID
Main plant	Partial	SSAB AB [100%]	4295889873 [100%]	E100001010360 [10.5%]; E100000001640 [6.3%]	SSAB AB	4295889873	E100000001651

Table 3: Process and Products

Phase	Steel product category	Steel products	Steel sector end users	ISO 14001	Main production equipment	Detailed production equipment
Main plant	crude; semi-finished; finished rolled	slabs; coke; crude iron; cast products	automotive; energy; transport	2021	BF, BOF	1 BOF
Closure	crude; semi-finished; finished rolled	slabs; coke; crude iron; cast products	automotive; energy; transport	–	BF, BOF	1 BOF
Expansion	crude	DRI, HBI	automotive	–	DRI, EAF	DRI plant; 1 small scale EAF (10-tonne)
Expansion	crude; semi-finished; finished rolled	slabs; coke; crude iron; cast products	automotive; energy; transport	–	EAF	1 EAF

Table 4: Crude Steel Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

*Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.

Phase	Capacity operating status*	Basic oxygen furnace steelmaking capacity	Electric arc furnace steelmaking capacity	Nominal crude steel capacity (total)
Main plant	operating	–	–	–
Closure	operating pre-retirement	2300 TTPA	–	2300 TTPA
Expansion	operating	–	13 TTPA	13 TTPA
Expansion	announced	–	2500 TTPA	2500 TTPA

Table 5: Crude Iron Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

*Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.

Phase	Capacity operating status*	Blast furnace capacity	Sponge iron/DRI capacity	Nominal iron capacity (total)
Main plant	operating	–	–	–
Closure	operating pre-retirement	2555 TTPA	–	2555 TTPA
Expansion	operating	–	9 TTPA	9 TTPA
Expansion	announced	–	–	–

Blast Furnace Details

Table 6: Blast Furnace Details

Unit name	Status	Announced date	Construction date	Start date	Retired date	Furnace manufacturer and model	Current size	Current capacity (ttpa)	Decarbonization technology	Most recent relining
3	operating pre-retirement	unknown	unknown	2000	2030	Primetals Technologies	2540 m³	2555	unknown	2015-08

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of steel power plants, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Steel Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.

Resources

• Company website