Outokumpu will acquire a 10% minority interest in CRONIMET North-East GmbH as per their agreement and expand their partnership to secure access to high-quality scrap near Outokumpu’s sites in Europe and take circularity to new heights.

Nov 7, 2023

Outokumpu and CRONIMET have expanded their partnership to secure access to high-quality scrap near Outokumpu’s sites in Europe and take circularity to new heights. Outokumpu has signed an agreement to acquire a 10% minority interest in CRONIMET North-East GmbH, the holding company for CRONIMET’s Northeastern business in Europe, holding subsidiaries in the surroundings of Outokumpu’s European production sites. The continuous supply of high-quality stainless steel scrap is an important factor in maintaining and increasing the industry-highest rate of recycled content of 94% and continuing to achieve the company’s ambitious climate targets.

“Partnering around our value chain and strengthening our sustainability leadership are key priorities in our strategy. Outokumpu has the lowest carbon footprint in the stainless steel industry, 70% smaller than the global average, which is a competitive advantage for us. The better the quality and the closer the scrap is sourced, the smaller the carbon footprint of our production, allowing Outokumpu to decrease the supply chain emissions further. We are excited about this partnership with CRONIMET, as we have a shared ambition on regional development – to accelerate the circular economy in the Northeastern European market area. Together, we can further strengthen our scrap supply and drive green transition in the industry”, says Mr. Marc-Simon Schaar, Chief Procurement Officer at Outokumpu.

Outokumpu and CRONIMET have also agreed to cooperate in areas such as joint innovation and research to improve technologies to further reduce CO2 emissions, lower costs through better predictability, and drive waste reduction within the supply chain. Jointly with better scrap quality, this will enable an improvement in Outokumpu’s process efficiency. 

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“This partnership is another step to achieve the sustainable development goals: low CO₂ footprint for stainless production with locally sourced stainless scrap,” says Mr. Jürgen Pilarsky, CEO of CRONIMET Holding GmbH.