Rail transportation significantly improves environmental performance
Outokumpu has been working hard to improve the environmental performance of the Group's transportation networks. Transport of products has been included also in the Group's Energy and low-carbon programme as well as long-term targets for indirect and direct CO2 emissions.
Outokumpu has signed a five year contract covering the 2008–2012 period with the EuroLink railway system. EuroLink connects Tornio, Avesta, Nyby, Degerfors and Sheffield and is the Group's primary internal, rail based, rail-ship-rail materials transportation solution. Unique equipment is used to transport coil, slab and billet products and raw materials, and as finished material is transported intermodally, products are only handled during loading and offloading operations.
Supply Chain Management goals in system solutions such as EuroLink include maintaining a reliable and frequent service between the Group's different sites throughout Europe. The system has a high capacity and very good reliability with low costs. As it is rail based and most of the engines use electric drive, EuroLink has an excellent environmental profile when compared to alternative methods of transportation such as trucks or ships which are driven by internal combustion engines.
Outokumpu is moving from truck to rail transportation.
To illustrate this, a comparison between rail and truck transportation was made using actual tonnages and mileage figures from 2008 when the system is 100% utilised. The results indicate the potential for radical improvement in Outokumpu's environmental performance that the rail based system offers.
In 2009, carbon dioxide emissions resulting from transportation of finished products by the Group totalled 128 285 tonnes. The proportion of products transported by truck totalled 55% and the proportion transported by ship totalled 28%, while 17% were transported by rail. The volume of products transported in 2009 was lower than in the preceding year at 1.0 million tonnes (2008: 1.4 million tonnes). Thus, the main reason for the significant reduction in the transportation emissions is likely to be the smaller volumes that were transported.
Application for an environmental permit in connection with plans to increase the capacity of Outokumpu's Kemi Mine led to an environmental impact assessment (EIA) being completed during 2009. The only clear impact identified was an increase in levels of traffic between the Kemi mine and the Tornio Works. However, not even a doubling of traffic will cause significant harm to settlements along the route.