Swedish steelmaker SSAB approved a SEK 3.3 billion (~USD 349 million) investment in a new quenching and tempering line at its Oxelösund plant, with production starting in 2030 and initial capacity of about 100,000 tonnes per year.
The line will expand SSAB Special Steels’ output of Hardox 500Tuf wear steel and Armox armour steel — its highest-margin products. According to Per Elfgren, Head of SSAB Special Steels, global demand for protection steel is rising on defence-sector orders.
The investment runs in parallel with SSAB’s separate SEK 6.2 billion Oxelösund EAF conversion, the Nordic flagship that was recently delayed past early 2027 due to species-protection appeals on the Vattenfall Eldistribution power line.
Why it matters for green steel: The premium product line will eventually be supplied by SSAB’s planned fossil-free EAF route, anchoring downstream demand certainty for the most profitable green-steel grades in Europe.