Published by: Julia Bolotova<>
27 Mar 2025 @ 11:45 UTC

Germany’s largest steelmaker, Thyssenkrupp, has put a hydrogen tender for its green steel plant on hold due to elevated prices but said it remains committed to the Duisburg site’s green transformation, a company spokesperson said on Thursday March 27.
It is becoming clear that the offered prices will be significantly higher than assumed and that other framework parameters of the hydrogen economy, which is developing more slowly than expected, will change considerably, Thyssenkrupp said in a statement seen by Fastmarkets.
The company has separately confirmed with Fastmarkets that a hydrogen procurement tender has been put on hold. It declined to comment on current hydrogen price levels in Europe.
Thyssenkrupp has been awarded €2 billion ($2.15 billion) in German state funding for its green steel transformation project at its flagship site in Dusiburg, Fastmarkets reported in early March.
The company is currently negotiating with the new federal government in Germany and the European Commission to update the terms of this funding agreement, Fastmarkets understands.
The insights gained from the hydrogen procurement that began in 2024 regarding prices, quantities and conditions must be discussed with the funding agency. This will be done intensively with the new German government but will then also have to be discussed with the EU Commission in 2025, the statement reads.
We will then intensify our efforts on the procurement concept and contact with suppliers in order to also substantiate possible delays in the hydrogen ramp-up. We will continue to use hydrogen as soon as it is technically and economically feasible and possible to do so, the statement continued.
Sources in the European steel market familiar with the matter agreed that using hydrogen to feed direct-iron-reduction (DRI) plants is currently too expensive to be competitive. Hydrogen prices are currently seen by sources at around €5-8 per kg.
Around 140,000-150,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year would be required to fuel a 2 million tpy DRI module, sources said.
The price of hydrogen needs to be around €2.50-3.00 per kg to make it commercially viable for steelmaking, a steel producer in Northern Europe told Fastmarkets.
Commitment to green transition Despite difficult situation with hydrogen procurement, Thyssenkrupp emphasized it remains committed to its decarbonization plans and the DRI plant construction will not be directly affected.
The construction and operation of the direct reduction plant in Duisburg are not directly affected by these issues because the plant can also be operated with natural gas. The plant will be commissioned independently of the availability of hydrogen using natural gas. When operated with natural gas, more than 50% of the CO2 emissions generated by conventional blast furnace operations can already be avoided, the spokesperson said.
Thyssenkrupp Steel’s Duisburg site has production capacity for around 11.7 million tpy of pig iron from four blast furnaces (BFs), and around 11 million tpy of crude steel. But recorded shipments from these steel assets have not exceeded 9.0-9.5 million tpy in recent years.
The site produces hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil and pre-painted coil, according to Fastmarkets information.
Thyssenkrupp plans to replace one of the four blast furnaces at its Duisburg site with a direct-reduction plant and two downstream smelters in 2027. This would allow the company to make its first steps toward carbon-neutral steel production.
The other three BFs will gradually be replaced with climate-friendly alternative technologies by 2045.
The new DR plant will have capacity for 2.5 million tpy. The company also plans to be able to produce around 5 million tpy of low-carbon steel by 2030.
The current schedule still envisages the start of operations at the direct reduction plant in 2027, the company told Fastmarkets on Thursday.