Published by:Alesha Alkaff<>
9 Apr 2025 @ 20:28 UTC

The US green steel market was dormant in the assessment period to Wednesday April 9 amid reportedly minimal traction, and with potential projects aimed at spurring decarbonization now on the chopping block under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Fastmarkets’ weekly green steel domestic, differential to US HRC, fob millstayed flat at $0 per short ton on April 9.
Fastmarkets’ domesticgreen steel base price, hot-rolled coil fob US mill stood at $958.40 per short ton on Wednesday. The price is the average of the most recentUS MidwestandSouth HRC pricesplus 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.
The green steel market in the US was quiet in the assessment period, sources told Fastmarkets.
There haven’t been any changes at all for us on the green steel front, a mill source said.
A green steel consultant echoed that sentiment, telling Fastmarkets they were not seeing anything new in the domestic market.
A hurdle in the development of the green steel market in the US exists among end users, the mill source said.
There is still the challenge of the end users monetizing [low-carbon emissions steel] with their products and customers. Most do not want to or cannot just absorb higher costs in the absence of any other incentives, the mill source added.
The acceleration of the green steel market in the US could be further deterred by potential cuts to Joe Biden-era investments aimed at supporting decarbonization.
Cleveland-Cliffs’ $500 million grantto upgrade its blast furnaces in Middletown, Ohio, and another $75 million awarded to the steelmaker for a similar project in Pennsylvania could be rescinded, according to media reports.
The grants were awarded in March 2024 during the Biden administration, as part of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) $6 billion investment in projects to decarbonize energy-intensive industries and reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions.
According to media reports, representatives from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had been involved in deciding which funding programs to cut. DOGE was created in Trump’s second administration and is tasked with reducing federal spending that the agency characterizes as waste, fraud and abuse.
The termination of the multi-million-dollar grants awarded to Cleveland-Cliffs could be one of many energy projects that would not come to fruition.
The DOE is reportedly considering cutting funding for the development of four out of seven hydrogen production hubs. Notably, the four projects recommended to have their funding slashed are in primarily Democratic-leaning states, according to people familiar with the matter.
In response to the potential scrapping of the hydrogen hubs, a bipartisan group of US senators and representatives urged the DOE to preserve funding for the projects in a letter on Monday April 7.
As the administration evaluates existing energy investments and pathways to make energy affordable, we respectfully urge you to continue supporting the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES) Hub in California. ARCHES plays a critical role in securing American energy dominance, advancing world-leading energy technology, creating new manufacturing jobs and lowering energy costs for American families, the letter said.
Hydrogen was said to be the futureof Cleveland-Cliffs’ decarbonization drive by chief executive officer Lourenco Goncalves, with the steelmakercompleting its hydrogen injection trialat its Indiana Harbor No7 blast furnace in January 2024.
In the trial, the company used hot-briquetted iron (HBI) as feedstock and injected hydrogen into the blast furnace as a reductant and fuel source.
Cleveland-Cliffs, which has reportedly invested $10 million to complete and commission a hydrogen pipeline at Indiana Harbor, did not immediately respond to Fastmarkets’ request for comment.