Slovakia is putting €40 million from the EU Modernisation Fund into a new air separation unit at US Steel Košice. The unit supports a wider move toward lower-carbon steel, alongside a €310 million grant for an electric arc furnace that should come online in 2030 with 1.6 million tonnes of annual capacity. The combined investment is around $1 billion. The funding comes from EU ETS revenues, linking carbon pricing directly to industrial decarbonization. Steel and iron accounted for 7.7% of Slovakia's CO2 emissions in 2021, so shifting to an EAF and upgrading the gas supply could meaningfully cut that share. The plant will become part of Nippon Steel in October and rebrand to Nippon Steel Slovakia.
