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Berlin (dpa) - The German steel industry is pushing for state commitments for financial aid in the climate-friendly conversion of its production.
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier will speak on May 3rd with representatives of the industry and IG Metall about the topic, as the German Press Agency learned on Friday from the parties involved.
First, the «Spiegel» reported on the meeting.
Last July, the Federal Cabinet decided on a “Steel Action Plan” to support the industry. However, there have not yet been any concrete financing commitments for the billions of euros in the refitting of the steel works. "Since the steel concept was presented in summer 2020, we have been in regular exchange and dialogue with the steel industry and the trade unions," said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
At the large steel manufacturers such as Thyssenkrupp and Salzgitter, attempts are being made to replace the climate-damaging coal with hydrogen in steel cooking.
The companies emphasize that they cannot manage the high investments on their own.
Thyssenkrupp had put its costs at around 10 billion euros, Salzgitter is assuming 3 billion euros.
Salzgitter boss Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann said that “substantial start-up funding” was required for this.
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The steel industry is a large carbon dioxide producer in Germany.
The blast furnaces and steelworks emit around 58 million tons of the greenhouse gas every year.
The industry is promoting public aid with the argument that there is hardly any other area where such a high contribution to climate protection can be achieved with comparatively little aid.
Critics demand that the steel companies first have to do something about their overcapacities.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210423-99-327210 / 3