Tata Steel has inked an agreement with American carmaker Ford to supply ‘Zeremis green steel’ from its IJmuiden plant in the Netherlands after the unit shifts to hydrogen-based steel making.

“Tata Steel Nederland has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ford in Europe to supply the carmaker with Zeremis green steel once the IJmuiden steelworks switches to green hydrogen-based steelmaking,” a statement said.

The agreement makes Ford the first customer committed to buy the green steel that Tata Steel plans to produce via the hydrogen route. Zeremis carbon lite steel is considered to be 100% carbon neutral.

Tata Steel is working to switch to low-carbon technologies to manufacture steel in the UK and the Netherlands. The company's arms Tata Steel UK and Tata Steel Nederland have been developing plans for transition to low CO2 technologies in line with the company's goal to produce CO2-neutral steel by 2050 in Europe, the company's chief executive officer and managing director T V Narendran and executive director and chief financial officer Koushik Chatterjee have said.

Sue Slaughter, Ford purchasing director, supply chain and sustainability, said, “Our customers want to take care of our planet, and we are taking the necessary steps on this journey … improvements within our supply chain are key, and with the use of carbon-neutral steel, we will take a major step towards lowering the CO2 footprint of our vehicles.”

See also:
JSW Steel signs pact for decarbonisation of steel sector
Britain in talks with British Steel and Tata to secure industry's future