Why Green Steel, Not Green Iron, Determines Europe’s Industrial Future - CleanTechnica

The article from CleanTechnica argues that Europe’s industrial future hinges more on green steel finishing than on green iron production. While the idea of a European green steel premium—where cleaner steel commands higher prices—is widely accepted, the reality is more complex. For such a premium to be sustainable, buyers must afford it without losing competitiveness, producers must scale without permanent subsidies, and costs must converge over time. Currently, Europe faces narrowing buyer tolerance, worsening producer economics, and diverging costs, undermining the viability of this premium. A key confusion arises from treating steelmaking as a single process, when in fact ironmaking (bulk, energy-intensive commodity production) and steel finishing (precision, value-added metallurgy) have distinct economics and challenges. Green iron production requires very cheap renewable electricity (below $30/MWh), high utilization of electrolyzers, abundant land and water, large-scale iron ore supply, efficient transport infrastructure, and political stability for long-term investment. Globally, only a few regions meet these