The Port of Rotterdam and steelmakers Thyssenkrupp Steel and Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann are to jointly explore the possibility of importing renewable hydrogen at the port for use in making low-/zero-carbon steelmaking. Both companies have long imported coal for steelmaking through Rotterdam, giving the possibility of importing renewable hydrogen an emblematic quality for the transition that many expect to occur in the steel industry over the coming decades. Instead of rail and barge transport of coal to Germany from Rotterdam, a pipeline may instead be built. A statement from the companies said that “vast imports of hydrogen are necessary if Europe and Germany want to reduce CO₂ emissions and become climate-neutral by 2050, while maintaining its strong industrial backbone.” The renewable hydrogen initiative is another ‘new energy’ project that the Port of Rotterdam is involved in, adding to the Porthos CO₂ transport and storage project alongside Gasunie and EBN, and the blue hydrogen production project in conjunction with Equinor, BP, Shell and ExxonMobil.