The Electrical Safety Authority has struggled to contact Stegra regarding electrical safety issues at its Boden facility. On March 16, the authority issued an injunction demanding information requested on December 4, 2025, which Stegra had not provided, giving the company until April 7 to respond. Stegra responded on April 7 that it had submitted the requested information already in March. Anonymous reports have been received about suspected illegal electrical installations and serious electrical safety deficiencies at the site. A report indicates electrical installation work is being carried out by companies not complying with electrical safety law requirements, while another reveals suspected deficiencies such as insufficient overload and short-circuit protection. Since a previous letter went unanswered, the injunction now demands feedback on which companies are responsible for electrical installations. The authority notes that the large facility with 'many parties from different countries' contributes to the case being motivated.
Separately, worker health incidents have emerged at SSAB's Luleå construction site, where ground work for a new steel plant has been paused. On Monday, SSAB stopped part of the work after reports of illness symptoms like headache and nausea among workers, with several employees needing medical care last week. The workers sought hospital care, but their injury status is not known. According to Byggnads Norrbotten's chairman Claes Danell, union members noticed a smell of bitter almonds reminiscent of cyanide. SSAB is investigating possible ground contaminants, but the company says no tests have shown elevated levels of harmful substances. The supervisory authority, the county administrative board, received information about the incident first on Friday. SSAB does not want to speculate on what might be in the ground, but rumors of benzene and cyanide have circulated. SSAB is still waiting for results from samples taken at the site. An affected worker, a 35-year-old machine operator for a subcontractor to NCC who started in February, has been on sick leave for six weeks.
Stegra's financial challenges are mounting, with conflicting reports on the scale of its funding gap. Sources to Dagens Industri claim Stegra is missing 20 billion kronor, double what was previously stated. In November, responsible parties stated that an additional 10 billion kronor was needed to complete the steel plant construction in Boden. Stegra has been seeking to raise over $1 billion in additional financing since last fall to complete the flagship facility near the Arctic Circle. The company's plan to build the first large green-steel mill in the world has hit a rough patch due to increasing project costs and construction delays. In October, Stegra posted information on its website that more money was needed, and the planned production start was delayed three months to the turn of the year 2025/2027. Production start is now set for around the turn of the year 2026/2027, though the company has also stated it expects continuous operation in 2026, indicating some contradiction in timelines.
To address this shortfall, Stegra is pursuing a complex financing round. According to the Stegra CEO, new funds amount to 15% of the total cost, around ten billion kronor. The new financing consists of a mix of new equity from larger owners and more loans. Henrik Henriksson hopes the financing will be settled over the next two months. The round aims to fund additional scope related to insourcing of certain infrastructure, cover higher project costs, secure a prudent financial buffer and offset state grants that were not fulfilled. Additional scope includes insourcing of railway investments and investments in port infrastructure. The round will also fund additional necessary groundwork and offset generally inflated costs for materials, construction and installation. Stegra has completed 60% of the entire project to date and is completing approximately 1% per week. The timeline has been extended by three months to accommodate additional scope.
EU and Swedish state support has become a contentious issue, adding to Stegra's financial pressure. The EU approved €265 million in Swedish support, but only €100 million was released. The remaining sum was blocked by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, citing that production is not yet entirely fossil-free as Stegra plans to use natural gas until a renewable source is available. The company was denied a government investment via Industrikivet. Stegra has applied for almost SEK 2 billion ($213.71 million) in new aid from the Swedish Energy Agency and is negotiating with shareholders to raise additional funds.
Despite these hurdles, Stegra continues to promote its technological ambitions for green steel production. The Boden plant is being built around electrolysis technology with a planned capacity of 740 megawatts and will use green hydrogen and clean electricity to produce iron and steel. The facility will use hydrogen to reduce iron ore, potentially cutting carbon emissions by up to 95% compared to traditional blast furnaces. Stegra estimates its process will slash carbon dioxide emissions by up to 95% compared with traditional coal-based methods. The plant is expected to initially produce 2.5 million metric tons of steel annually and eventually double its production. Stegra has already installed 10 electrolysis modules (200 MW). The plant is expected to start continuous operation in 2026, beginning with scrap steel in electric arc furnaces, later integrating hydrogen-based direct reduction.
Stegra has also secured commercial agreements, including a deal with Thyssenkrupp. The company landed a major new customer, a subsidiary of Thyssenkrupp, which agreed to buy non-prime steel from the plant. Thyssenkrupp Materials Services will buy tonnages in the high-six-digit range of non-prime steel. Steel mills typically produce a higher ratio of non-prime metal when starting up, which decreases over time, according to Stegra. The deal is Stegra's first for non-prime steel, but it has already inked agreements for prime steel with automakers and major companies. Offtake contracts represent more than half the steel that will be produced during the plant's first phase. Thyssenkrupp Materials Services won't count the carbon-emission reductions toward its own climate targets; Stegra will sell green credentials separately. Stegra previously struck a deal to sell environmental attribute certificates to Microsoft.
Conflicting reports cloud the assessment of Stegra's financial health. According to sources for the Financial Times, at a board meeting last week, the issue of insolvency was on the agenda, meaning the company is said to have had difficulty paying its debts. In contrast, major shareholder and chairman Harald Mix writes that the steel company's situation is strong and that his company Kallskär is investing new funds.
Additional safety and labor issues are compounding Stegra's challenges. A company in Luleå, active within Stegra's area in Boden, is issued a fine of 50,000 kronor by the Work Environment Authority if it continues to let its employees work without fall protection. The fine applies if all construction and installation work with fall risk of two meters or more is not done with fixed protective railing or protective covering. Byggnads has issued a notice of collection blockade against the company Nord Armering, one of the contractors at Stegra's steel plant construction in Boden, effective at 7 AM on Friday morning. The blockade is due to the company not following rules on layoff pay during winter months, according to the union. The blockade means Byggnads members will not perform any work until wages are paid.
Iron ore supply developments are also in flux. LKAB is opening up to sell more iron ore to competitor Stegra, with test deliveries to begin. The state-owned mining company has agreed with Stegra to start trial deliveries with the ambition of becoming a supplier. The possibility of more deliveries has increased due to factors like less traffic on the railway with fewer night trains to and from northern Sweden. Stegra will eventually have more Swedish iron ore, with trial deliveries beginning next autumn. Currently, iron ore is purchased from Canada and the Brazilian mining company Vale, which is blacklisted by several major investors.
Project challenges and context further illustrate the complexity of Stegra's undertaking. Stegra has been affected by increased costs, including general inflation, higher costs for electrical installations, and owning infrastructure such as railways and part of the port in Luleå. It will take up to 12-18 months after production start to certify all products and run the entire plant at full capacity.