Air Liquide and Severstal further strengthen their partnership with a new long-term contract

PAO Severstal and Air Liquide have signed a new long-term contract for the supply of oxygen, nitrogen and argon in Cherepovets. Air Liquide will invest around 50 million euros in the construction of a state-of-the-art Air Separation Unit (ASU) which will improve the energy efficiency and the overall environmental footprint of the Severstal production process.

Air Liquide will design, construct and own a new ASU on the Severstal CherMK site in Cherepovets producing 2,000 tons of oxygen per day. This will bring the total production capacity of Air Liquide above 7,000 tons of oxygen per day on this site, making the Cherepovets one of the largest industrial gas production unit across the steel industry worldwide. The project will be operated by Air Liquide Severstal, a joint-venture established in 2005 between Air Liquide and Severstal.

The Air Liquide Engineering and Construction teams will bring their state-of-the-art technologies to build this large-scale ASU, which is planned to be operational by the end of 2020. The new ASU will enable improving significantly the energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions by 20.000 tons/year which corresponds to the yearly emissions of 7.500 cars. This performance will contribute to reach the Climate ambitions of the Air Liquide Group of reducing its carbon intensity by 30% between 2015 and 2025.

This new signature, with the third ASU installed and operated by Air Liquide in Cherepovets since 2007, as well as the recent renewal of our initial contract reflects the long-term partnership and mutual trust between Air Liquide and Severstal.

Guy Salzgeber, Executive Vice-President and member of the Air Liquide group’s Executive Committee supervising industrial activities in Europe, said: “We are pleased to strengthen our long-term partnership with Severstal. The signature of this major contract and renewal demonstrate trust and confidence in the ability to create value for our customers and deliver long-term performance which is key to ensure profitable growth. We are also committed to accompany our customers in the energy transition journey by promoting low carbon solutions for a sustainable industry.”

Alexander Shevelev, General Director of Severstal Management, said: “This contract is further demonstration of Severstal’s commitment to sustainable development, as we continue to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency at our production sites. We are pleased to work with Air Liquide, who shares our focus on environmental protection and takes a highly responsible attitude to ecological conservation. Throughout our long partnership, Air Liquide has demonstrated its ability to deliver high-quality products and innovative services to its customers, and I hope that our positive collaboration will develop further as we continue contributing to the environment protection along with achieving operational excellence together”.

Severstal is actively working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The company's affiliates implemented a set of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the introduction of more efficient technologies, including improving the production of pig iron and steel (reducing the consumption of limestone and dolomite), reducing the natural gas consumption (using coke and blast furnace gases) and transferring a number of boilers from solid to gaseous fuel (using of coke and blast furnace gases). The total direct emissions of greenhouse gases in Severstal in 2018 amounted to 22.1 million tons, which is 4.7% less than in 2016.