EUROFER calls for ETS reform to match market reality and support steel decarbonization
steelorbis.comEUROFER, the European Steel Association, is pushing the European Commission to reform the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) so it reflects actual market conditions. The group warns that without affordable clean electricity, hydrogen infrastructure, and better scrap access, planned low-carbon steelmaking capacity is stalling. Some 10 to 15 million metric tons of capacity have already been delayed or put on hold. EUROFER says carbon pricing alone cannot drive industrial transformation. It wants electricity prices near 50 euros per megawatt hour, cheaper renewable hydrogen, slower phase-out of free allowances for CBAM sectors, and more ETS revenue reinvested in industrial decarbonization. Currently, less than five percent of ETS auction revenues go to industrial projects. The association also calls for extending the hot metal benchmark methodology past 2030 to give investors more certainty for hydrogen-ready technologies like direct reduced iron. Without these changes, EUROFER argues the ETS risks cutting emissions through deindustrialization rather than through real investment and innovation.