Steel market and SSAB's position
Despite the economic and geopolitical unrest in the world, the driving forces on the global steel market continue to be favorable for SSAB.
Steel demand
- Demand varies over business cycles
- Increasing demand for SSAB's products, especially, high-strength steel and steel without fossil carbon dioxide emissions
- Increasing demand in infrastructure and the defense industry
Steel trade flows
- Global trade has decreased in recent years due to trade barriers and high transport costs
- American and European tariffs are basically unchanged
- EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) for will apply from 2026
- SSAB is well positioned on its home markets, the Nordics and North America, with production close to customers
Steel supply capacity
- By and large no steel imports into Europe from Russia and Ukraine
- CO2 emission costs make growth in blast furnace steelmaking unprofitable in Europe
- New investments have long lead times
- Good conditions for high global capacity utilization in the coming years
Raw materials
- The market has stabilized after the disruptions arising in conjunction with Russia's invasion of Ukraine
- China has recovered on global raw material markets following Covid-19
- Demand for more sustainable materials is expected to increase
Market segments
SSAB is present in the flat carbon steels segment (steels with some carbon content) that are rolled into flat products. With an annual crude steel production capacity of around 8.8 million tonnes, SSAB is a minor actor on the global steel market, but has leading positions in four defined segments. These segments account for around 2% of the global carbon steel market:
- Special steels, for example AHSS and quenched and tempered (Q&T) globally
- Automotive premium steel (advanced high-strength steel, AHSS) globally
- Flat steel and tubes in the Nordics
- Heavy plate in North America
Besides being a steelmaker, SSAB is also a steel and non-ferrous metal distributor via its subsidiary Tibnor and offers steel-based building products via its subsidiary Ruukki Construction.
Customer segments
Customer segments include heavy transport, construction and infrastructure, industrial applications, construction machinery (including lifting), energy and material handling (including mining). We also sell standard steels to a certain extent on our home markets, the Nordics and North America, through distributors and service centers. SSAB has its own sales channels in 50 countries.