In July, Hebei Iron & Steel (HBIS) signed a deal to sell 10,000 tonnes of “low-carbon steel” to an Italian client. With a 50% smaller carbon footprint than conventional products, the shipment was made in a “hydrogen-based” furnace at a steel plant in Zhangjiakou belonging to HBIS subsidiary Zhangxuan Technology. The plant is one of the first large-scale examples of hydrogen-based steelmaking in China. And it has the flexibility to switch to using “green hydrogen” made entirely using renewable power.

The deal signals growing recognition of Chinese low-carbon products in Europe and shows how producers are adapting to the EU’s forthcoming carbon emissions levy, called the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). Yet these are early pilots rather than industry-wide change, their scale tiny compared to China’s billion-tonne annual steel output.

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