Published by: Alesha Alkaff<>
2 Jul 2025 @ 20:23 UTC

The US green steel market was inactive in the assessment period to Wednesday, July 2, with sources reporting inertia to pay more for lower carbon steel, when a majority of the domestic steel produced is already relatively cleaner on a global scale.
Fastmarkets’ weekly green steel domestic differential to US HRC, fob mill was flat at $0 per short ton on Wednesday.
Fastmarkets’ domestic green steel base price, hot-rolled coil fob US mill stood at $901 per ton. The price is the average of the most recent US Midwest and South HRC prices plus the US green steel differential.
Fastmarkets’ carbon threshold is 0.7 tCO2e per 1 tonne of steel. Renewable energy credits and mass balancing can be used for carbon calculation, but carbon-offset credits are explicitly disallowed.
Not much has changed [in the green steel market]. Consumers in the US and globally are not really ready to pay for a better product yet, from a decarbonization standpoint, a domestic mill source told Fastmarkets. People like to talk about the concept of green [steel], but when it comes to a willingness to pay, most people are not there yet.
The mill source explained that the US is relatively ahead in the market of producing clean steel, with 70% of steel production originating from electric arc furnaces (EAFs).
EAFs emit lower levels of carbon due to its use of electricity, while integrated mills, or blast furnaces (BFs), rely on coal and thus emit higher carbon dioxide levels.
There’s a reason why the steel in the US is as good as it is and it’s because of the EAFs the mill source said.
The preponderance of EAF-made steel in the US is a likely factor deterring market participants from paying more for lower carbon steel.
To be honest, in this market, I can’t imagine anyone would be willing to pay more for green steel. Its price is already equal to green steel, a trader said.
Looking ahead, zeroing in on a green steel premium could prove to be more challenging in the US, amid a continued push toward more EAF steel production.
The largest single trend across the industry is the move away from blast furnace to EAF production because it has both financial and sustainability benefits, a green steel consultant told Fastmarkets.
Additionally, legislation out of the nation’s capital could impact the outlook of clean steelmaking.
US President Donald Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill was passed in the US Senate, with Vice President JD Vance acting as a tie-breaker, on Tuesday July 1.
The bill will phase out the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits for solar and wind energy development and the purchase of electric vehicles (EVs).
A provision in the legislation would provide millions of dollars in tax credits to US companies that produce metallurgical coal.
“Using metallurgical coal to make iron and steel is the opposite of advanced manufacturing — it’s a centuries-old process, Hilary Lewis, steel director at Industrious Labs, said on Wednesday.
Subsidizing outdated coal-based steelmaking not only harms American innovation and competitiveness, but also domestic investment, Lewis added.
The updated bill will now need to be passed by the US House of Representatives again. Republicans in the lower chamber want to pass the legislation as early as Wednesday.
Green steel market in Europe, Asia Green steel spot markets across Europe were similarly lackluster, with the slowing of the decarbonization push across Europe — due to increasingly challenging economic conditions — unsettling the market, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday, June 26.
Falling steel consumption, geopolitical turbulence, a high share of imports in domestic consumption and mounting steelmaking costs in Europe are delaying investments in green technologies, sources said.
The cancellation of ArcelorMittal’s €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) EAF-DRI project in Germany — despite government support — has magnified concerns that the current market environment no longer supports aggressive decarbonization timelines.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ assessment for the green steel domestic, flat-rolled, differential to HRC index, exw Northern Europe was €150-200 per tonne on Thursday, widening downward from €170-200 per tonne seven days earlier.
Fastmarkets’ assessment of the green steel, differential to rebar, domestic, delivered Northern Europe was €15-30 per tonne on Wednesday, stable week on week.
Fastmarkets’ methodology defines European green steel as steel produced with Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions at a maximum of 0.8 tonne of CO2 per tonne of steel.
Meanwhile, green steel producers in east Asia have kept their premiums at 20-40% against base prices for high-grade flat steel, sources told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets’ weekly calculation of the green steel import differential to HRC index, cfr Vietnam, which calculates the price difference between flat-rolled green steel and the CFR Vietnam price, was $98-204 per tonne on Friday June 27, narrowing upward by $2 per tonne from $96-204 per tonne on June 13.
Fastmarkets’ assessment of the green steel base price, HRC, cfr Vietnam, weekly inferred, which is calculated by adding new spreads to Fastmarkets’ Japan, Korea and Taiwan-origin HRC prices, was $588-714 per tonne on Friday, narrowing upward by $12 per tonne from $576-714 per tonne on June 13.