SSAB (Svensk Stål AB) is the Nordic region’s largest manufacturer of commercial steel. They have production facilities in Borlänge, Luleå and Oxelösund in northern Sweden. The company is already today deeply dependent on being able to transport the steel by rail south to the rest of Europe.
– SSAB transports about 200,000 tons of goods via the Øresund Bridge a year, which corresponds to about 3,300 railcars, says Magnus Eliasson, the rail transportation manager at SSAB, in a LinkedIn post from the interest organization Europasåret.
Øresund becomes a bottleneck – or traffic jam
When the Fehmarn connection opens in 2029, however, there is the prospect that that figure could triple, and that will make the Øresund connection somewhere between a bottleneck and a definite traffic jam. Today, SSAB has to use the railway ferry from Trelleborg to a large extent, because the steel transporters are too heavy to drive over the Kiel Canal, which has weight restrictions.
– Via the train ferry from Trelleborg, we transport approximately 400,000 tonnes, which corresponds to approximately 6,600 railway wagons. In terms of volume, we expect the same level in the short and medium term and a certain increase in the longer term, says Magnus Eliasson.
Redundant transport connection
Therefore, SSAB is now advocating, together with Europaspåret, that an additional connection be established between Denmark and Sweden in the form of a tunnel from Landskrona to Copenhagen. The Fehmarn connection gives the company the opportunity to avoid the ferry.
– We expect that the Fehmarn Bælt connection will have a positive impact on our transport by providing a shorter transit time compared to transport via train ferry and through Denmark. In terms of capacity, it is also positive, but it will only have a real effect in combination with a new Øresund connection, which also increases freight capacity. SSAB needs a robust, reliable and redundant transport connection between Sweden and the Continent for both the import of raw materials and the export of finished products, says Magnus Eliasson on LinkedIn.
Want to produce fossil-free steel in 2026
SSAB has ambitions to become the first producer of fossil-free steel in 2026 – among other things by switching from coal- and coke-fired blast furnaces to electric furnaces, which are supplied by renewable energy. And in this connection, SSAB also wants to electrify the transport link by transporting by train all the way.
It is not just SSAB that wants to seize the railway corridor from Northern Scandinavia to continental Europe. Northern Sweden expects a veritable industrial boom in connection with the green transition, among other things from battery and hydrogen production, which will also provide a large need for transport, writes Europaspåret on LinkedIn.
Europaspåret is an interest organization led by Landskrona Municipality in Skåne in southwestern Sweden.
Also read:
Landskrona wants to have an immersed tunnel to Copenhagen
