Shape Corp. launches bumper made from sustainable steel material

Jan 22, 2024

Nearly one year after announcing a partnership to market more sustainable automotive components, Grand Haven-based Shape Corp. has developed a virtually fossil fuel-free steel bumper from materials created with new groundbreaking technology.

The family-owned Tier 1 automotive supplier, which expects to hit $1 billion in revenue in 2023, last month unveiled a new roll-formed steel bumper made with material from SSAB AB, a Sweden-based steel company. The steel is made with Hybrit technology, developed through a partnership between SSAB, Swedish government-owned iron ore producer LKAB and Swedish energy company Vattenfall.

The steel-making process often uses coal as a fuel source that mixes with iron pellets in a blast furnace to create carbon dioxide and molten iron, which is later converted into molten steel at extremely high temperatures.

Compared to the historically carbon-intensive process of steel making, the Hybrit technology bonds the oxygen from iron ore with hydrogen and results in water as a byproduct instead of carbon dioxide. The processed material then is melted with an electric arc furnace, requiring no fossil fuels for heating.

The resulting steel product is virtually fossil fuel-free, and executives say the new bumper from Shape is the world's first of this type of automotive component.

"There's a lot of excitement in the auto industry right now with going electric, but then the steel industry at the same time is going through this huge transformation. The fact that SSAB is making a huge investment in this new revolutionary technology is incredible," said Brian Oxley, project manager at Shape Corp. "To be on the cusp of that and be a part of that is amazing."

According to Oxley, Shape has had a long history of working with SSAB, and this new development builds on years of collaboration.

"There are a lot of synergies between our two companies. We’re both kind of focused on technical solutions, and so we’re always collaborating with them on new developments," Oxley said.

A few years ago, when SSAB first announced its reimagining of the steel-making process, Oxley said Shape expressed interest in becoming an early adopter of the material. After signing the agreement last year, Shape received some trial material from an early batch from SSAB.

Since then, Shape has conducted rigorous testing — including bendability, fracture characterization, material toughness, delayed fracture testing, and welding evaluations — that indicates the new component does not compromise material properties or performance.

According to Oxley, the steel roll-forming process lends itself to lightweighting with high-strength materials. He said Shape Corp. envisions using the material in other automotive components as well.

"Anything where we’re using a high-strength steel, we think this will apply," he said. "We think we can take it and make a substitution to any product that we’re running now. Our goal is to have these sorts of fossil free raw materials in all our products."

SSAB aims to start producing the steel at a commercial scale by 2026. To make that happen, Oxley said SSAB will work toward a significant investment in production capabilities to support growing demand.

"Climate change is at the foreground right now, and we see a lot of our OEM partners with goals to be carbon neutral in their operations by 2030, 2040 or 2050," Oxley said. "If you consider the development process of a vehicle, if you want to have your whole fleet carbon neutral by 2040, you’ve got to start soon to switch all that production over as well as the materials. I think by 2026, just to meet those ambitions and targets by many of the automakers, the demand will be there already."

Shape entered into an agreement with SSAB in 2022 to serve as the first automotive company to deploy the sustainable material for crash management and body structure systems.

The SSAB partnership contributes to Shape's own ambitious sustainability goals. By 2025, the company aims to reduce energy usage by 30% in all its plants around the globe. This step will be followed by achieving carbon neutral operations worldwide by 2030, powered by 100% renewable energy.

By 2035, Shape has pledged to become a completely carbon-neutral company and aims for 100% all carbon-neutral products — from sourcing and production to disposal — by 2039.

"We see this as a win for our customers, a win for the environment and a win for Shape," Mark White, president and CEO of Shape, said in a statement at the time the SSAB partnership was announced.