Strategic direction

Leading position in home markets

SSAB is the market leader on our home markets – flat steels and tubular products in the Nordics and heavy plate in North America. A proximity to customers has built up partnerships through the years. These partnerships continue to evolve. It is key for customers to receive top-quality steel with good delivery accuracy and short lead times. SSAB's competitive edge is that production is relatively close to customers, which also facilitates product development. This leading position on our home markets creates a stable platform from which to further develop SSAB’s offering.

Global leadership in special and premium steels

SSAB has a wide range of premium steels and is the global market leader in quenched and tempered (Q&T) steels and advanced highstrength steels (AHSS). These steels create great value for SSAB's customers, for example through longer product lifespan, lighter products that consume less energy in use and higher productivity. SSAB’s unique special products have higher margins and more stable earnings than standard steel over business cycles. The strategy is to continue to increase sales of special and premium steels by upgrading customers from standard steels to high-strength premium alternatives, and to enter new markets and segments. Combining the growth of these products with a more stable development of standard products will improve SSAB’s product mix.

Leading the green transformation of the steel industry

Many of SSAB's customers and other market actors, not least in the mobility, construction and construction machinery industries, have set ambitious goals to reduce their climate impact from materials. In many cases, steel accounts for a significant share of CO₂ emissions related to materials and manufacture of these products. By offering these customers steel with lower CO₂ emissions, SSAB helps them to reach their climate goals and in turn sell products and applications with a lower carbon footprint. This shows how the development of steel with lower climate impact creates great value for our customers and adds a further dimension to SSAB’s range of premium products. Back in 2023, we introduced a unique steel, SSAB Zero, based on recycled steel scrap and fossil-free energy. SSAB’s flexible production system means that we can offer SSAB Zero in most product categories and on many markets in Europe and North America.