The report describes the COVID-19 pandemic response deployed by the company and its employees to support the communities.
The report highlights the decarbonization goal that the company adopted last February as part of its climate change strategy.
The 2020 Sustainability Report describes and analyzes Ternium's long-term initiatives for sustainable operations, such as its decarbonization route, its new plans for investment in environmental projects, and the COVID-19 pandemic response deployed by the company and its employees to support the communities.
"The challenge posed by the pandemic involved every aspect of our business and affected all our employees, yet, at the same time, it has been an opportunity to test the resilience of our long-term management focus and the sustainability of our company,” writes Paolo Rocca, the president of Ternium in his introduction to the report.
In this global context, overall concern about climate change and other aspects of the sustainability agenda has grown. In February 2021, Ternium announced its goal of reducing the intensity of its CO2 emissions by 20% by 2030, a medium-term goal enshrined in its commitment to continue decarbonizing operations through the long term.
“As Latin America’s leading flat steel producer, we recognize the positive impact we can have on the health of our planet and the benefits that being a good environmental steward can provide our business. We are proud to continue supporting the world’s transition to renewable energy” says Máximo Vedoya, Ternium's CEO, in the report.
In February of this year, Ternium launched a new USD 460 million investment plan targeting environmental matters.
Decarbonization route
To achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions, the company has proposed a raft of initiatives such as expanding the use of renewable energies, increasing scrap use and steel recycling, augmenting CO2 capture capacity in direct reduction processes (DRI), and prioritizing steel production technologies with lower specific emissions.
In 2020, the intensity of CO2 emissions in Ternium's crude steel production for Scopes 1 and 2 was 1.7 tons of CO2 per ton of steel produced, 2% down from 2019, reflecting the temporary measures taken to deal with the disruptions caused by the pandemic.
In the Report, Ternium underscores that the initiatives pursued to reduce its carbon footprint are aligned with the commitments undertaken by the countries where it operates to help achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement adopted at the UN Conference on Climate Change.
The company is also drawing up a product development roadmap, aiming to increase its offer of sophisticated, strong and lightweight steel products for applications in a low carbon economy.
Improvements in environmental performance
In February of this year, the company launched a new USD 460 million investment plan targeting environmental matters, specifically for projects to improve the control of particulate matter emissions, raw materials management, and water quality control at its main operations in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.
As for steel recycling, which plays a vital role in reducing carbon emissions, in 2020 Ternium used 2.6 million tons of scrap to produce new steel with all its properties, representing 27% of its crude steel output.
Regarding air quality, over the last five years, the company has invested USD 142 million in projects to improve the capture and treatment of particulate matter emissions at its facilities, especially in Mexico.
Furthermore, it is consolidating the use of co-products to cut waste production as part of the drive to promote the circular economy, reducing the consumption of raw materials and energy. For example, granulated slag, gases and powder generated during steelmaking processes are sold to industries such as cement making, or used to produce electrical energy. In 2020, Ternium achieved a 99.6% materials efficiency rate in its operations, generating 4.7 million tons of co-products.
Ternium announced its goal of reducing the intensity of its CO2 emissions by 20% by 2030.
Shoulder to shoulder with its communities
Another of the highlights featured in the Sustainability Report concerns the company's response to the pandemic. This included the creation of a USD 6.4 million support fund for 10 communities in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Guatemala. The central idea was to strengthen the network of hospitals and their response to the health emergency by donating medical and protective equipment as well as biosafety materials.
Part of the investment went to building a community hospital for COVID-19 patients in Monterrey, Nuevo León (Mexico), which treated 450 people, furnished with 100 beds and 10 fully equipped intensive care units.
“To support the smallest-sized customers and suppliers in our value chain, we reinforced the financial assistance provided by our ProPymes program, making USD 5.7 million available in funding. We also provided advice to help them obtain loans from local financial institutions, amounting to USD 13.5 million in funds received,” highlights Rocca.
ProPymes supports some 1,800 small and medium-sized companies making up Ternium’s value chain in Mexico and Argentina. In 2020, the program sponsored online training courses for approximately 5,300 participants, and around 300 projects were developed.
In addition, over the last five years, Ternium has invested USD 60 million in educational activities to improve the quality of life in the communities where it is present. In 2020, 763 scholarships were awarded to high school students, 361 to university-level students and 9 to doctoral students, as part of its commitment to education for local development.
Ternium's 2020 Sustainability Report also showcases information on its objectives and actions in relation to issues such as safety at work, the environment, the wellbeing of its workforce, neighboring communities, the value chain, its business plans and governance.