BHP looks to hydrogen to replace its coking coal
Australian resources firm BHP will develop an electric smelting furnace (ESF) in Australia, which could use hydrogen to replace the coking coal that it mines in Queensland to process the iron ore it produces in Western Australia (WA).
BHP will work with engineering firm Hatch to design and build a pilot plant for a hydrogen- and renewable energy-fuelled ESF that, when combined with a direct reduced iron (DRI) plant, could process its Pilbara iron ore to make steel. This will be the first time it invests in an iron ore processing plant in Australia since the closure and $266mn write-off of its Hot Brickette Iron Boodarie plant in WA in 2005.
It has been the least proactive of the three big Pilbara iron ore producers, comprising itself, Rio Tinto and Fortescue, in developing "green steel" options. This is partly because of its backing for the long-term use of coking coal in steel production and partly because of the failure of Boodarie.
BHP is one the biggest global suppliers of seaborne coking coal from its BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) with Japanese trading house Mitsubishi in Queensland, although it has been divesting its lower grade metallurgical coal assets to focus on the highest grade production in its portfolio. BMA put its 12mn t/yr Blackwater and 2.5mn t/yr Daunia mines up for sale last month.
BHP also has an interest in playing the Queensland government off against the WA state government, having linked Queensland's increase in royalty rates to its decision to cut investment and sell assets in the state.
The DRI-ESF steel production route will be able to use the mid-quality iron ores produced in the Pilbara, rather than relying on higher grade ore or concentrates, with carbon dioxide emissions more than 80pc lower than the traditional blast furnace route, according to BHP.
The test programme will de-risk investment in commercial scale projects and complement development plans of BHP's steel customers, BHP said, without saying who will fund the commercial scale projects or whether they will occur in Australia or at customers' existing facilities. It compared it to Sweden's Hybrit project.
Green steel, which uses hydrogen and renewables instead of coal, is seen as a growth opportunity in Australia. The US Inflation Reduction Act has made it more difficult for Australian pure hydrogen projects to attract international investment against their US competitors. But green steel allows Australia to leverage off its abundant supplies of iron ore and its huge capacity to develop renewable energy plants. Australia's relatively low population density and abundant sunshine and strong winds are advantages in renewable energy development.
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South Korea to require use of SAF for flights from 2027
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Fortescue hold firms on 2024-25 iron ore target
Fortescue hold firms on 2024-25 iron ore target
Beijing, 30 August (Argus) — Australian iron ore producer Fortescue has reiterated its iron ore shipment target for the 2024-25 fiscal year ending 30 June of 190mn-200mn t, including 5mn-9mn t from its Iron Bridge project on a 100pc basis. The Iron Bridge magnetite project in Western Australia shipped its first cargo in July last year, with Fortescue's iron ore shipments totalling 191.6mn t for the full year . It had targeted to ship 192mn-197mn t for 2023-24. The company achieved a hematite average revenue of $103/dry metric tonne (dmt), up by 9pc on a year earlier. Hematite C1 costs for 2023-24 rose by 4pc from the previous year to $18.24/wet metric tonne (wmt) because of higher labour rates and mine plan driven cost escalation, although Fortescue said its cost control measures offset the partial increase. It forecasts hematite C1 costs for 2024-25 to rise to $18.50-19.75/wmt. The Argus ICX seaborne iron ore fines assessment for 62pc Fe cfr Qingdao averaged $119.40/dmt for 2023-24. Fortescue is on track to achieve real zero, or no fossil fuels and no offsets, for its scope 1 and 2 terrestrial emissions across its Australian iron ore operations by 2030. It is aiming to achieve this with building a new solar farm, deployment of electric excavators and the use of battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell haul truck prototypes. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US OCTG, line pipe imports fall in July
US OCTG, line pipe imports fall in July
Houston, 29 August (Argus) — Preliminary data from the US Department of Commerce shows that imports of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and line pipe products fell in July. OCTG volumes fell by 88,100 metric tonnes (t) from the prior year, as volumes from Japan dropped by 15,500t, South Korea and Thailand both dropped by 13,500t, and volumes from Vietnam and Mexico fell by 11,300t and 9,300t, respectively. Volumes of line pipe less than or equal to 16in fell by 12,300t, as Italian volumes dropped by 4,500t, Ukraine dropped to zero from 4,400t in the prior year, and Brazilian volumes fell by 3,100t. Standard pipe imports increased by 13,400t on a 7,900t increase from Turkey. Heavy structural shape volumes jumped by 39,700t as Spanish volumes increased by 21,700t from the prior year, and imports from Germany rose by 9,200t. By Rye Druzchetta US pipe and tube imports metric tonnes Product Jul-24 Jul-23 Volume change ±% Jun-24 OCTG 95,792 183,909 -88,117 -47.9% 126,760 Line pipe 69,387 80,875 -11,488 -14.2% 87,976 Standard 66,100 52,716 13,384 25.4% 76,317 Heavy Structural Shapes 107,979 68,253 39,726 58.2% 54,096 US Department of Commerce July 2024 data is preliminary data, which is subject to change. Line pipe is all diameters. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Higher flats volumes lead US steel imports up
Higher flats volumes lead US steel imports up
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