00:00This is how international steel giant ArcelorMittal envisioned its future, with a company producing green steel in their German plants in Eisenhüttenstadt and Bremen, all on newly refitted machines.
00:14At least that's what the company's image film shows.
00:18ArcelorMittal has been promised 1.3 billion euros in subsidies to replace the old climate-busting furnaces with modern electric arc furnaces.
00:29But now, the company has ended its efforts to produce climate-friendly steel in Germany.
00:35The reason, it can't be done profitably in the current market environment.
00:40In Bremen, the news was met with shock and fears for jobs.
00:44Ute Bugeln is the local employee's representative.
00:48Among the responsibilities a company has are that they have to risk something,
00:52that they have to invest even when things aren't entirely clear, to work towards progress.
00:57And with that in mind, ArcelorMittal is not working diligently.
01:03Other steel producers in Germany, among them ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, Salzgitter and the Stahlholding Saar, were propped up to the tune of 5.7 billion euros.
01:15Their aim is to use hydrogen to produce climate-friendly steel.
01:20But one of them, ThyssenKrupp, agreed that there are economic challenges.
01:23At the German Institute for the Economy, they are critical of ArcelorMittal's decision.
01:29I'm not necessarily expecting a chain reaction.
01:35Other companies have said that they will stick to their plans and work towards green steel.
01:40The government has to keep supporting that.
01:43But they actually already are, with high subsidies.
01:46It's clear that the green steel business is still a young one.
01:52And hydrogen, too, is not expanding as fast as some had hoped.
01:57The problem?
01:58High energy prices across Germany.
02:01Despite subsidies, producing green steel is a tightrope act.
02:06The city of Bremen for now is worried about its place in the industry.
02:10The question is, did ArcelorMittal make the right decision?
02:16From a business perspective, that seems likely.
02:19But with regards to politics and responsibility, I think they made a mistake.
02:24ArcelorMittal was not willing to talk to us.
02:27Investors so far have welcomed the company pulling the plug on green steel.
02:32ArcelorMittal is not willing to talk to us.
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