Tata Steel to supply equipment maker JCB

The Tata Steel UK business unit of India’s Tata Steel Group says it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with United Kingdom-based construction equipment maker JCB to supply it with recycled-content “green” steel.

Under the agreement, Tata Steel will supply JCB with steel made in Port Talbot, U.K., after that mill converts from iron-based blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace production to recycled steel-based electric arc furnace (EAF) technology.

According to Tata, JCB “maintains a close focus on carbon reduction in its manufacturing and equipment,” and intends to use the supplied steel throughout its product range.

The MoU is the first supply agreement Tata Steel UK says it has made since announcing the more than $1.5 billion joint investment with the U.K. government to undertake the mill conversion project in Wales.

The project involves installing a 3 million metric tons per year of EAF capacity, which would make it one of the largest EAF mills in the world, according to Tata.

The EAF mill will consume U.K.-sourced scrap, “removing the need to ship millions of tons of iron ore and coal from across the world,” states Tata Steel. The firm says the conversion plans will cut the site’s CO₂ emissions by up to 90 percent and the U.K.’s overall carbon emissions by about 1.5 percent.

“One of the key drivers in our transition plans is that our long-standing and loyal customers such as JCB need green steel to meet their own decarbonization ambitions,” says Anil Jhanji, chief commercial officer of Tata Steel UK. “They want to be supplied by a trusted partner making quality steel within the U.K.”

Remarks Wayne Asprey, group purchasing director at JCB, “Tata Steel is a long-term supply partner for JCB, and this agreement marks an essential next step in our journey toward supply chain decarbonization”

Adds Asprey, “We are fully supportive of Tata Steel U.K.’s investment proposals and are pleased to be one of the first customers to endorse those plans by making this agreement to secure British-made green steel as soon as it is available.”

Tata Steel describes JCB has taken in part in other decarbonization efforts, such as developing an electric mini excavator in 2018 and then expanding its range of fully electric-powered equipment.