Tata Steel first steelmaker to sign Sea Cargo Charter

TATA Steel has signed the Sea Cargo Charter (SCC) as the world's first steel-manufacturer, re-emphasising that it's committed to sustainable operations and reducing impact on climate.

The SCC, which was launched in October 2020, seeks to reduce environmental impacts of global seaborne cargo. It sets up a common, global baseline to quantitatively assess and disclose whether ship-chartering activities are in tune with climate goals set up by the IMO – the International Maritime Organisation – a specialised agency of the United Nations.

The IMO’s Initial GHG Strategy sets out its ambitions to curb total annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by shipping activity by at least 50 per cent of 2008 levels by 2050 and pursue efforts to phase them out as soon as possible in the current century.

Tata Steel overall became the 24th organisation to join the SCC to back its sustainability objectives and initiatives. As part of Tata Steel’s efforts to align with the charter’s ambitions, the company announced this month a partnership with Optimum Voyage, a Danish technology company, to use big data to help lower emissions from ships delivering raw material to its European operations.

Peeyush Gupta, vice president of Supply Chain for Tata Steel, said, “As a leader in the steel industry, which continuously sets benchmark in sustainable operations, it is imperative that we look at reducing emissions with similar determination. This is a decisive step in the direction to measure correctly and mitigate the impact on climate efficiently and innovatively.”

Ranjan Sinha, chief group shipping and director raw material procurement of Tata Steel, said, “We are truly proud to be a signatory of the Charter as it represents another critical phase in our efforts to tackle climate change around the world.

“Having established a strong reputation for corporate governance, it is befitting that we collaborate with world’s leading organisations across industry to establish global standards for sustainable shipping. We are committed to aligning our chartering activities with responsible environmental behaviour.”

Tata Steel, which is headquartered in Mumbai, India, is one of Europe’s leading steel producers with steelmaking in the Netherlands and the UK, and manufacturing plants across the continent of Europe.

The company supplies high-quality steel products to key markets like construction and infrastructure, automotive, packaging and engineering.

The Tata Steel Group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 34 million tonnes. It is one of the world's most geographically-diversified steel producers as well, with operations and a commercial presence across the world.

The group recorded a consolidated turnover of $21.06 billion (£15.3 billion) in the financial year ending March 31 this year.