Europe's steel industry won't be able to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by the levels recently postulated by the European Commission, but it should be able to reduce them by an estimated 15% in an economically viable way by 2050, compared with levels in 2010, the steelmakers' association Eurofer said Thursday.

"The European Commission's reduction targets [are] beyond reach of the steel sector," said Eurofer's general director Gordon Moffat in a statement. "The steel industry cannot stay in Europe if the commission's targets are imposed on the sector without further adaptation."

The commission's recently published document, "Roadmap for moving to a low-carbon economy in 2050," postulates a reduction of 80% to 95% by 2050, from levels in 1990, for European industry, including steel.

Eurofer said in a report Thursday that in its "economic scenario," only a 10% emissions reduction per metric ton of steel would be possible between 2010 and 2030, and 15% between 2010 and 2050. This would be brought about by the use of best available technologies, process optimization and a greater use of steel scrap, Eurofer said. The report is based on research by Boston Consulting Group.

Greater reductions in carbon emissions could be achieved only by major alterations to blast furnace installations and the use of "radical, new and yet unproven breakthrough technologies," Eurofer said. ArcelorMittal (MT), the world's biggest steelmaker, said it agreed with Eurofer's position on emissions.

Research into ultra-low CO2 steelmaking technology, or ULCOS, started in 2004 and has been tested at pilot-plant level, but hasn't yet been used on an industrial scale, Eurofer said.

Steelmaker Tata Steel (500470.BY), which is working on the development of an ULCOS technology called HISarna, which is financially supported by the European Union and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Thursday described the European Commission's targets for steelmakers' emissions as "unfeasible."

"If the European steel industry is to succeed in its efforts to develop breakthrough low-carbon iron making technologies, a more favourable legislative environment is needed," a Tata Steel spokesman said. "Sensible legislation that adequately supports high-cost breakthrough initiatives like HIsarna is a prerequisite, combined with a regulatory framework that does not impose unrealistic targets."

Write to Diana Kinch at diana.kinch@dowjones.com

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