Brazil’s steelmaker Aço Verde do Brasil (AVB) has received the carbon-neutral steel certification by Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS).
With this license, the 600,000mt per year mill becomes the world’s first to get this certification, it said in a statement. SGS developed the evaluation focusing on AVB’s greenhouse emissions between 2018-2019 which were at 0.10 and 0.06 tons of CO2 per ton of crude steel. Global averages range from 1.56-3.38mt of CO2 per tonne of crude steel.
AVB lowered its carbon footprint by including reusing natural gas in 100pc of its processes and using charcoal in its blast furnaces. Besides, the steelmaker will start its thermoelectric plant this year to feed 50pc of its energy needs. The AVB steel mill is located in the town of Açailândia, state of Maranhão, and produces wire rods, rebar, billet, pig iron.
Brazil’s crude steel output rose by 3.8pc to 2.8mn mt in February, from 2.7mn mt produced in February 2020, according to figures from Iabr.