Economic and environmental analysis of coking coal and solid recovered fuels supply to European steelmaking plants

Abstract

This study assesses the economic and environmental performance of the supply chain of coking coal and solid recovered fuel—an often overlooked component of product life cycles—to fifteen European steel plants, by investigating different input combinations and transport methods across six scenarios including imports from both within and outside Europe via ship, road, rail, and river. Results showed that Pre-2022, abroad coking coal was cheaper than local coal, but in 2022, a sharp rise in global prices was driven by three key factors: the European ban on Russian imports, the continental energy crisis, and global shipping disruptions, rendering local coal cheaper. By 2023–2024, markets stabilized, reverting toward pre-pandemic levels. Comparing local versus abroad coal consumption cuts emissions by 33.5 %, due to lower transport-related emissions. A sensitivity analysis showed that Polish coal prices impact local coal supply costs five times more than rail freight rates, while Australian and United States coal prices drive abroad coal supply costs. Other supply chain factors were found negligible. Additionally, the new European maritime-transport carbon tax could raise total coke oven input costs by just 0.4 %, indicating minimal operational impact. Furthermore, road-transported solid recovered fuel is environmentally beneficial up to a total travelled distance of 1180 km compared to local coal, or 2210 km compared to abroad coal, while river transport is always environmentally beneficial. Finally, economic viability rapidly drops with distance, as at 1500 km travelled, solid recovered fuel must cost ≤17.6 % of Polish local coking coal or 14.6 % of abroad coking coal to be economically viable.