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17 September 2024

BlueScope Sustainability Report Suite Published

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BlueScope’s FY2024 Sustainability Reporting Suite, onsisting of the annual Sustainability Report and Modern Slavery Statement, as well as our Second Climate Action Report, are now published. The suite of reports detail the progress we've made on our climate and sustainability journey. A Tax Contribution Report and Corporate Governance Statement are also included in this suite.

 

 

We are continuing to work towards meeting our long-term 2050 net zero goal1

Our 2030 targets2 and 2050 net zero goal remain at the core of our climate strategy and are highly dependent on several enablers, including:

  • We have refined our key enablers to reflect major developments over the past three years – most notably: 
    • Increased focus on DRI with natural gas as a transitional step before green hydrogen becomes viable.
    • Advancements in low-emissions iron and steelmaking technologies require development and diffusion rather than breakthroughs.
  • Effective and consistent public policy support is critical to unlocking progress across all enablers.

We are making progress against our climate strategy and decarbonisation pathway. Some key highlights from the Report include:

  • We have commenced construction on the NZ$300 million Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) at our Glenbrook site in New Zealand, which will reduce the site’s Scope 1 and 2 GHG emission by approximately 55 per cent3.
  • We are collaborating with Australia’s leading iron ore producers (Rio Tinto and BHP) to jointly develop Australia’s first ironmaking Electric Smelter Furnace (ESF) pilot plant.
  • We achieved a 12.0 per cent reduction in steelmaking greenhouse gas emissions and 8.4 per cent4 reduction in non-steelmaking greenhouse gas emissions intensity compared to our baseline year FY2018. 
  • We have spent over 40 per cent of the capital to support the delivery of decarbonisation initiatives since the initial allocation of up to $150 million over five years, with a total estimated capital investment of $300 million to $400 million by 2030.  

For more information on our progress on climate action:

Download second Climate Action Report

Download second Climate Action Report Highlights

FY2024 Sustainability Report

Our FY2024 Sustainability Report and the Sustainability Data Supplement provide an overview of how our people are progressing projects to achieve sustainable outcomes for our customers, communities, shareholders, supply chain and the environment.

Sustainable growth and transformation  

  • We continue to demonstrate the resilience of the BlueScope business model, delivering an underlying EBIT of $1.34 billion.
  • Operating cash flow for the year, after capital expenditure, was $434 million, and we finished the financial year with net cash of $364 million. 

Safe, healthy and inclusive workplaces  

  • We completed 1,175 HSE risk control improvement projects since 2021.
  • We continued to build a workforce that reflects our communities: Representation of women at BlueScope increased to 25 per cent.
  • We continue to be fully committed to the applicable United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights across the 15 countries we operate in.
  • We completed three modern slavery targeted worker assessments at our own operations in Thailand, China and Mexico in FY2024.
  • We were recognised as a 2024 worldsteel Sustainability Champion and for our Human and Organizational Performance (HOP).

Climate action and environment

  • We achieved a 12.0 per cent reduction in steelmaking greenhouse gas emissions, and 8.4 per cent6 reduction in non-steelmaking greenhouse gas emissions intensity compared to our baseline year FY2018.
  • We are collaborating with Australia’s leading iron ore producers (Rio Tinto and BHP) to jointly develop Australia’s first ironmaking Electric Smelter Furnace (ESF) pilot plant.
  • We have commenced construction on the NZ$300 million Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) at our Glenbrook site in New Zealand. This is expected to reduce the site’s Scope 1 and 2 GHG emission by approximately 55 per cent5.
  • 63 environmental improvement projects submitted by employees.
  • 36 per cent of our total water consumption from recycled sources.
  • Since 2018, water intensity across our three steel manufacturing sites has reduced from 2.03 to 1.28 kL per tonne of raw steel.

Responsible products and supply chains  

  • We received ResponsibleSteel™ site certification for our Phu My site in Vietnam joining our Port Kembla Steelworks, and Western Port facilities as ResponsibleSteel™ certified sites.
  • 50 per cent of the ferrous input for BlueScope overall was comprised of recovered or recycled steel scrap in FY2024.
  • Applications of steel in circularity: longevity, design for disassembly, production of components that support the renewable energy transition. 
  • We are improving our supplier assessment program and continuing our Scope 3 GHG emissions pilot study. 

Strong communities 

  • The 2024 RepTrak study confirms BlueScope's strong corporate reputation across Australia, the US and New Zealand, with scores remaining above benchmark averages.
  • We generated $18.3 billion in direct economic value and $17.6 billion distributed across our global operations. 

For more information on our progress on sustainable outcomes:

Download FY2024 Sustainability Report

Download FY2024 Sustainability Report Highlights Poster

FY2024 Modern Slavery Statement

At BlueScope, we take our obligations and commitments to addressing and helping eradicate modern slavery seriously. We continue to adapt our approach, ensuring we share and apply learnings as we go.

The Modern Slavery Statement covers BlueScope’s approach to respecting human rights, and mitigating risks to modern slavery, human trafficking, and other forms of forced labour. The Statement details the actions taken towards our commitments and a review of how effective those actions have been.

We are increasing capability, strengthening our due diligence processes, and developing systems to monitor, manage and respond when modern slavery risks are identified.

Since FY2023:

  • Three social impact audits (focused on modern slavery risks) were conducted at our operations.
  • 269 supplier assessments were completed.

For more information:

Download FY2024 Modern Slavery Statement

 

Footnotes

1 & 2 Our goal is to pursue net zero Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions across our business by 2050 and is contingent on five key enablers: technology evolution, raw materials supply, access to firmed renewable energy, natural gas enabling the transition to competitively priced green hydrogen, and supportive and consistent public policies.
Subject to securing additional renewable energy power purchase agreements and recycling more domestic scrap steel in New Zealand.
4  The Non-Steelmaking Target applies to our midstream activities that include our cold rolled, metal coating and painting lines and long products. It excludes our downstream activities.
5 Subject to securing additional renewable energy power purchase agreements and recycling more domestic scrap steel in New Zealand.
6 The Non-Steelmaking Target applies to our midstream activities that include our cold rolled, metal coating and painting lines and long products. It excludes our downstream activities.