Stakeholders and membership

• Existing and potential customers
• Existing and potential employees
• Shareholders, investors and financiers
• Existing and potential suppliers
• Local communities close to our production sites
• Government agencies and organizations

SSAB's collaboration with political decisionmakers, on a global, U.S., European and national level, aims to inform about opportunities and challenges associated with the transformation and decarbonization of the steel industry. Climate policy, energy policy, competitiveness and industrial policy are areas of specific interest for SSAB, as well as issues related to public funding and efficient permit processes.

SSAB is pursuing the following issues, for example:

• Climate policy: SSAB supports the European Green Deal and Climate Law, including the target of a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050. For the EU 2040 target, SSAB has been calling for an ambitious target of at least a 90% net reduction compared to 1990 levels and believes that focus and priority needs to be given to reductions in the EU. For SSAB it is important that the EU stays the course on climate policy and ambition, and emphasizes that competitiveness and sustainability go hand in hand.
• Energy policy: Transformation of the industry depends on access to fossil-free energy inputs, especially electrification. Accelerating the expansion of fossil-free electricity production, allocation of electricity capacity and access to transmission grids are important issues for SSAB.
• EU ETS and CBAM: SSAB supports on time and effective implementation of the EU ETS and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The EU ETS system is a cornerstone in the EU’s climate policy. The phase out of free allocations under the ETS, as decided in the Fit-for-55 package, should not be slowed down. Also, the definitive period of CBAM needs to start as planned in 2026, with focus on making the instrument effective by i.a. concrete solutions to ensure a level playing field for CBAM goods exports and expanding the CBAM scope to include steel-intensive downstream products. Benchmarks and default values must reflect realistic emissions levels.
• Public funding: SSAB advocates caution regarding state aid, which can easily distort the EU’s internal market and increase the cost of the technology needed for the transformation. If used, subsidies should focus on research and development and the scaling up of new technologies, not on subsidizing already commercially available technologies.
• Industry and competitiveness: It is important to ensure a level playing field on the EU internal market, and internationally. There is a need for clear standards and definitions that support steel market transformation, as well as policy instruments for the demand side of clean-tech solutions.

SSAB’s climate policy engagement is adopted by the CEO and is based on the corporate strategy, the Code of Conduct and SSAB’s support for the goals in the Paris Agreement. For lobbying activities in the EU, SSAB is registered in the EU Transparency Register, registration number 835967332819-32.

During 2025, an assessment was made whether those industry organizations and member organizations of which SSAB is a member represent the climate-related positions that SSAB stands behind and/or are in line with the goals in the Paris Agreement. The assessment shows that all member organizations meet SSAB’s expectations.