UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
______________________
FORM SD
SPECIALIZED DISCLOSURE REPORT
______________________
ABB Ltd
(Exact name of the registrant as specified in its charter)
Switzerland
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)
001-16429
(Commission file number)
Affolternstrasse 44
CH-8050 Zurich
Switzerland
(Address of principal executive offices)
Richard A. Brown
Telephone: +41 -43-317-7111
(Name and telephone number, including area code, of the person to contact in connection with this report. )
Check the appropriate box to indicate the rule pursuant to which this form is being filed:
☒
☐
Introduction
ABB Ltd is a corporation organized under the laws of Switzerland. In this Form SD and the attached Conflict
Minerals Report (included as Exhibit 1.01), “ABB”, the “Company”, “we”, and “our” refer to ABB Ltd and its consolidated
subsidiaries. ABB is a foreign private issuer as defined under Rule 405 of Regulation C under the Securities Act of 1933 and
Rule 3b-4 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Our shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, the NASDAQ OMX
Stockholm Exchange and were listed on the New York Stock Exchange (in the form of American Depositary Shares) through
May 22, 2023.
Conflict minerals are defined as cassiterite, columbite-tantalite and wolframite, and their derivatives, which are
limited to tin, tantalum and tungsten, as well as gold (3TG). The functionality of a substantial portion of our global product
portfolio relies on the use of direct materials, especially electronic components, which include amounts of tin, tantalum,
tungsten or gold (
necessary conflict minerals
). For example, tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold are each contained respectively
in weld wire, capacitors, electronic contacts and electrical connection coatings, each of which are components in many of our
products. Our operating businesses and their products are described in more detail below.
In 2023, we operated our business through four Business Areas which are aligned based on products and services.
The Business Areas were: Electrification, Motion, Process Automation, and Robotics & Discrete Automation. We also have
certain insignificant business operations relating to our remaining engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC)
contracts, which are being wound down and managed in a separate business unit outside of those businesses. The description
of our businesses and their main products in 2023 is as follows:
●
Electrification:
manufactures and sells electrical products and solutions which are designed to provide safe, smart
and sustainable electrical flow from the substation to the socket. The portfolio of increasingly digital and
connected solutions includes renewable power solutions, modular substation packages, distribution automation
products, switchboards and panelboards, switchgear, UPS solutions, circuit breakers, measuring and sensing
devices, control products, wiring accessories, enclosures and cabling systems and intelligent home and building
solutions, designed to integrate and automate lighting, heating, ventilation, security and data communication
networks.
●
Motion:
designs, manufactures, and sells drives, motors, generators and traction converters that are driving the
low-carbon future for industries, cities, infrastructure and transportation. These products, digital technology and
related services enable industrial customers to increase energy efficiency, improve safety and reliability, and
achieve precise control of their processes.
●
Process Automation:
offers a broad range of industry-specific, integrated automation, electrification and digital
solutions, as well as lifecycle services for the process, hybrid and marine industries. The product portfolio includes
control technologies, industrial software, advanced analytics, sensing and measurement technology, and marine
propulsion systems. In addition, Process Automation offers a comprehensive range of services, from repair to
advanced digital capabilities such as remote monitoring, preventive maintenance, asset performance management,
emission monitoring and cybersecurity.
●
Robotics & Discrete Automation:
mapping and navigation solutions, robotic solutions, field services, spare parts and digital services. The Business
Area also specializes in automation solutions based on its programmable logic controllers (PLC), industrial PCs
(IPC), servo motion, transport systems and machine vision.
In addition, commencing January 1, 2023, our E-mobility division was no longer managed within the Electrification
Business Area and became an independent division. The products sold by this division are included in the scope of this
report.
As ABB files reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under Section 13(a) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, and is a user of
necessary conflict minerals
Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (17 CFR Parts 240 and 249b).
ABB’s Policy on Conflict Minerals can be found at https://global.abb/group/en/about/supplying/responsible-minerals.
The content of any website referred to in this Form SD is included for general information only and is not
incorporated by reference in this Form SD.
Section 1 - Conflict Minerals Disclosures
a.
We have concluded that during the 2023 calendar year:
i.
based on an analysis of our global product offering, we manufactured products containing conflict minerals and
have determined that the use of these minerals was necessary to the functionality or production of these products.
ii.
based on the Reasonable Country of Origin Inquiry (RCOI) conducted (see below), we have reason to believe that a
portion of the Company’s
necessary conflict minerals
Republic of the Congo (DRC) or an adjoining country
1
recycled or scrap sources.
b.
Description of RCOI
We are a large organization and have manufacturing facilities located around the world. In 2023, we manufactured
products in more than 500 product lines and had approximately 40,000 unique direct material suppliers.
To assess whether the
necessary conflict minerals
performed a RCOI by identifying direct suppliers of products likely to contain 3TG and surveying a sample of these suppliers
using the Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (CMRT) as developed and issued by the Responsible Minerals Initiative
(RMI) of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) and the Global eSustainability Initiative (GeSI).
During 2023, we focused on increasing the quality of responses from the sample of suppliers selected for surveying.
We used customized systems to track the link between the components purchased from our suppliers and our products
allowing us to make a focused selection of the relevant suppliers of 3TG. To be considered valid, supplier responses had to
meet certain quality standards to be accepted without further follow-up. The final response rate from our suppliers was more
than 90% in both 2023 and 2022 as we executed a structured due diligence process and provided training to our suppliers
where needed. During 2023, we performed certain due diligence procedures on our products containing cobalt and included
this material in the scope of our supplier surveys although the results of this are not within the scope of this Form SD.
In 2023, we selected approximately 3,100 suppliers to be surveyed based on the identification of components
containing 3TG within ABB products. We believe our current RCOI and the number of surveyed suppliers provides a
sufficient level of coverage to allow us to appropriately assess the conflict status of our products.
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1
Adjoining countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are: Angola, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic,
Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
As part of our RCOI, suppliers provided us the names of the original smelters/refiners used to process 3TG
contained in their products. Based on the list of processing facilities we have compiled and based on smelter/refiner-specific
country sourcing information we have received through our membership in the RMI, we believe that some of the
necessary
conflict minerals
sources. Although most suppliers who responded to our survey were able to provide us with a list of the original
smelters/refiners that they identified as being used to process 3TG contained in their products, most of our suppliers were
unable to identify and represent which smelters/refiners were specifically used for the 3TG in the products or materials
supplied to ABB. Therefore, the lists of smelters/refiners provided by suppliers may contain facilities that were not used to
process 3TG contained in the components they provided to us.
c.
Disclosure of this Form and the Conflict Minerals report
In accordance with Rule 13p-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Specialized Disclosure Form (Form
SD) and the associated Conflict Minerals Report are available on our website at https://global.abb/group/en/investors under
“Reporting”, “SEC filings”.
Section 2 - Exhibits
Exhibit 1.01 -
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be
signed on its behalf by the duly authorized undersigned.
ABB LTD
By:
/s/ T
IMO
I
HAMUOTILA
Date: May 29, 2024
Name:
Timo Ihamuotila
Title:
Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
By:
/s/ N
ATALIA
S
HEHADEH
Date: May 29, 2024
Name:
Natalia Shehadeh
Title:
Chief Integrity Officer, Interim General
Counsel and Corporate Secretary