Stegra will need more capital to finish its 5-million-tonne-per-year green steel plant in Boden, Sweden, after a 100-day review found completion costs are "significantly higher than assumed" — even on top of the €1.4 billion (USD $1.6 billion) financing package the company closed in June 2026.

The company disclosed the finding alongside a leadership change: former SAAB President and CEO Håkan Buskhe takes over as CEO, succeeding Henrik Henriksson, who held the post since 2021. The review was initiated after June's financing round, led by Wallenberg Investments — the investment vehicle of Sweden's Wallenberg family foundation — alongside a consortium that now controls more than 90% of shares and votes. That round also installed former Volvo Group CEO Leif Johansson as board chair.

What did the review find?

Stegra framed the outcome as a mixed picture. The timeline for green steel production remains on track, and the company says the business case for the plant holds. But the estimated cost of completing construction exceeds what management assumed when the June package was sized.

The company attributed the gap to two factors: substantial ramp-up costs following the prolonged scaling back of work earlier this year, and inflation.

Johansson laid out the situation directly:

"When we took over, we said that we believed the financing would be sufficient, but that we could not rule out that more would be needed. We now have a complete picture of the project, investment by investment – how far we have come and what it has cost. The financing need is greater than we had hoped, but we have a robust plan to complete the project and have identified greater opportunities for outsourcing and partnerships than we previously thought."

What is the plant's status?

Founded in 2020, Stegra broke ground on the Boden plant in 2022. The facility is designed as the world's first large-scale green steel plant, targeting 5 million tonnes of annual output.

The process differs from conventional blast-furnace steelmaking in the material stream it requires. Stegra uses hydrogen produced with renewable power to strip oxygen from iron ore — hydrogen direct reduction — avoiding most of the CO2 emissions associated with coke-based reduction. All electricity for the manufacturing process comes from 100% renewable sources.

By early 2024, the company had secured €6.5 billion in funding for the plant. The project's financial footing shifted in October 2025, when Stegra, facing a significantly tougher environment for clean tech capital, opened a new financing round to secure the funds needed to complete construction. That round culminated in the June 2026 package led by Wallenberg Investments.

Who pays for the gap?

Stegra says it has already opened discussions with its largest shareholders, who have "expressed a positive view" on participating in the effort to secure the required capital. The company adds that "dialogue with shareholders, financiers, partners and other stakeholders continues at high intensity."

The new outsourcing and partnership opportunities identified in the review give management a second lever beyond equity checks, though the company did not quantify either the remaining financing need or the value of the partnership options.

Johansson signaled the board's intent to close the gap:

"If anything, our belief in Stegra and in the business opportunities once the steel plant is complete is stronger today than when we came on board in June, and we are now working constructively with all of the company's stakeholders to find a solution to the financing need."

What happens next?

The near-term question is whether the shareholder consortium that consolidated control in June — already holding more than 90% of the company — commits the additional capital, and on what terms. A CEO change at the same moment the financing need is disclosed puts execution of the ramp-up, and the credibility of the unchanged production timeline, squarely on Buskhe's desk.

For the low-carbon steel market, Boden remains the largest single test of whether hydrogen-based direct reduction can scale at the 5-million-tonne level. The milestone to track: the size and closing date of the next financing round, which will determine whether the plant's stated production timeline survives contact with the cost reality the 100-day review has now quantified.