Ovako publishes Sustainability Report for 2018

This year’s Sustainability Report highlights important progress in Ovako’s sustainability efforts, linked to areas such as the company’s environmental impact, systematic safety work and ongoing investments for increased competitiveness.

Ovako’s successful sustainability work continued in 2018. This included a decision to invest in a new vacuum degassing facility at the company’s production site in Smedjebacken, which will provide additional improvements in the properties of our steel and will also contribute to a reduced carbon footprint and lower energy consumption during production. One milestone is that Ovako’s hot-rolled bar products from Finland now also have a climate declaration, which means Ovako is able to demonstrate that its products have a world-leading carbon footprint – around 80 percent lower than the global average.

In line with the company’s efforts to manufacture the most sustainable, cleanest and strongest steel solutions, Ovako also continued to work with its customers, suppliers and other stakeholders to reduce the environmental impact of the products throughout their life cycle.

“We already have one of the world’s most carbon-efficient production processes, but that does not mean we have reached our goal. During the year, we continued to invest in our facilities to further strengthen our competitiveness and improve our climate profile,” says Marcus Hedblom, President and CEO of Ovako.

Systematic safety efforts continued to show good results, with safety as the top priority in Ovako’s strategy. The long-term goal is to completely eliminate accidents in the workplace, and over the past three years the number of accidents resulting in lost time has decreased by almost 70 percent.

“Our employees are our most important asset in order to conduct our business. Ovako’s group-wide safety program has been a success, and we are now at a leading level in the Nordic region. This is the result of a focused effort, and we have together made significant improvements in recent years,” says Marcus Hedblom.  

Swedish and English versions of Ovako’s Sustainability Report for 2018 are now available at www.ovako.com

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About Ovako

Ovako develops high-tech steel solutions for, and in cooperation with, its customers in the bearing, transport and manufacturing industries. Our steel makes our customers’ end products more resilient and extends their useful life, ultimately resulting in smarter, more energy-efficient and more environmentally-friendly products.

Our production is based on recycled scrap and includes steel in the form of bar, tube, ring and pre-components. Ovako has around 3,000 employees in more than 30 countries and sales of approximately EUR 1000 million. Since June 2018, Ovako is a subsidiary within the Japanese Nippon Steel Corporation group, the third-largest steel producer in the world with 93,500 employees globally and a revenue of EUR 43 billion. For more information, please visit us at www.ovako.com and www.nipponsteel.com.