NZ Steel’s Electric Arc Furnace and Why Local Materials Matter

Steel is a big part of Innate’s furniture language. It gives our tables structure, keeps bases strong, and lets us build clean forms around New Zealand native timber.

So when New Zealand Steel announced its electric arc furnace project at Glenbrook, it mattered to us. Not because it makes any single table impact-free, but because it points in the right direction for local manufacturing.

What New Zealand Steel is changing

New Zealand Steel is building a new electric arc furnace at Glenbrook, co-funded by the New Zealand Government. BlueScope says the project is projected to start commissioning by the end of 2025.

The shift is intended to use more domestic scrap steel and electricity from New Zealand’s largely renewable grid, while retaining part of Glenbrook’s existing ironmaking capacity.

The expected emissions impact

BlueScope has stated that the project is expected to reduce New Zealand Steel’s Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by up to 55 percent, and reduce New Zealand’s total country emissions by around one percent.

Those are large industrial numbers. They should be treated as project-level claims, not as a promise about the exact carbon footprint of an individual furniture piece.

Why local steel still matters to us

We use steel because it is strong, repairable, and works well with timber. Using New Zealand-made steel also keeps more of the value chain close to home: material supply, cutting, fabrication and finishing.

There are design trade-offs too. Working with local steel sheet can shape what forms we make and what profiles we avoid. That constraint is not a problem; it is part of how Innate pieces get their own language.

Local materials are not a slogan

“Sustainable” is too vague on its own. What matters is whether the material has a traceable source, whether it can be used well, and whether the supply chain is moving in a better direction.

For Innate, NZ steel sits alongside NZ native timber as part of a more local way to build furniture: not perfect, not impact-free, but more transparent and more connected to the place the furniture is made for.

Source and further reading

• BlueScope: Supporting New Zealand’s climate transition
• New Zealand Steel: Electric Arc Furnace announcement