JFE Steel Corporation, Itochu Corporation and Emirates Steel
Arkan, the largest steel company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will conduct joint detailed feasibility studies
on the establishment of a supply chain of ferrous raw material for green
ironmaking with low-carbon emission at the project site in Abu Dhabi.
Emirates Steel will
produce the ferrous material through a drastically decarbonized process.
Price-competitive natural gas will be used for the direct reduction of iron
ore, but the CO2 emitted by this
process will be injected into UAE oil fields for enhanced oil recovery (EOR)
under the practice of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS).
An eventual switch from
natural gas-power sources to solar-power sources is envisioned. Emirates Steel
ultimately plans to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by adopting hydrogen reduction if the process
becomes an established global technology.
Around 80% of the CO2 emissions from
steelmaking via blast furnaces come from the iron ore reduction process in the
furnaces. CO2 emissions can be
reduced by using the ferrous material as the iron source rather than using coke
to reduce the iron ore. JFE Steel plans to use the ferrous material produced
through this project as a steelmaking raw material and promote CO2 emissions
reduction.
Based on a previously
completed viability study, the detailed feasibility studies will focus on
building a supply chain. Itochu will be responsible for stably procuring
high-grade iron ore and Emirates Steel will be responsible for the production
of the ferrous material.
Production of the ferrous material is expected
to begin in the second half of FY2025 at a joint venture to be established in the
UAE. The supply of the ferrous material to users in the Asian market including
JFE Steel is to begin thereafter.