ABB (ABLZF) SDConflict minerals disclosure

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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FORM SD

SPECIALIZED DISCLOSURE REPORT

Commission file number: 001-16429

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ABB Ltd

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Switzerland

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

Affolternstrasse 44

CH-8050 Zurich

Switzerland

(Address of principal executive offices)

Richard A. Brown

Affolternstrasse 44

CH-8050 Zurich

Switzerland

Telephone: +41-43-317-7111

Facsimile: +41-43-317-7992

(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Check the appropriate box to indicate the rule pursuant to which this form is being filed, and provide the period to which the information in this form applies:

☒ Rule 13p-1 under the Securities Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13p-1) for the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2021.

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 currently listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (in the form of American Depositary Shares).

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 2021, we operated our business through four businesses based on products and services. These businesses included: Electrification, Motion, Process Automation, and Robotics & Discrete Automation. We also have certain 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 2021 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 electric vehicle charging infrastructure, renewable power solutions, modular substation packages, distribution automation products, switchboard 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: manufactures and sells drives, motors, generators, traction converters and mechanical power transmission products 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: develops and sells a broad range of industry-specific, integrated automation and electrification and digital systems and solutions, as well as digital solutions, lifecycle services, advanced industrial analytics and artificial intelligence applications and suites for the process, marine and hybrid industries. Products and solutions include process and discrete control technologies, advanced process control software and manufacturing execution systems, sensing, measurement and analytical instrumentation, marine propulsion systems and large turbochargers. In addition, the business offers a comprehensive range of services ranging from repair to advanced services such as remote monitoring, preventive maintenance, asset performance management, emission monitoring and cybersecurity services.

·         Robotics & Discrete Automation: delivers its products, solutions and services through two operating divisions: Robotics and Machine Automation. Robotics includes: industrial robots, software, robotic solutions and systems, field services, spare parts, and digital services. Machine Automation specializes in solutions based on its programmable logic controllers (PLC), industrial PCs (IPC), servo motion, transport systems and machine vision. Both divisions offer engineering and simulation software as well as a comprehensive range of digital solutions.

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 to produce its manufactured products, ABB is subject to 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/material-compliance/conflict-minerals-policy. 

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 2021 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 originated or may have originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or an adjoining country¹ (collectively the “covered countries”) and may not be from recycled or scrap sources.

b.     Description of RCOI

We are a large organization and have manufacturing facilities located around the world. In 2021, we manufactured products in more than 500 product lines and had approximately 50,000 unique direct material suppliers.

To assess whether the necessary conflict minerals in our products originated from the covered countries, we 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 2021, we focused on continuing to increase the quality of responses from the sample of suppliers selected for surveying. We continue to utilize 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. We continue to require a high level of quality supplier response to be accepted. The response rate from our suppliers was more than 90% in both 2021 and 2020 as we continue to execute a structured due diligence process and provide training to our suppliers where needed. We also commenced due diligence procedures on our products containing cobalt and included this material in the scope of our supplier surveys.

In 2021, we selected approximately 2,900 suppliers to be surveyed based on the identification of components containing 3TG within ABB products. We continue to refine the selection process by reducing the numbers of suppliers invited that do not supply ABB with 3TG. We believe our current RCOI and the number of surveyed suppliers provides a sufficient level of coverage that could 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 in our products may have originated from the covered countries and were not from recycled or scrap 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 “Quarterly results & annual reports”, “2021”, “SEC & XBRL filings”.

Section 2 - Exhibits

Exhibit 1.01 - Conflict Minerals Report as required by Items 1.01 and 1.02 of this Form.

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.