Rio Tinto and the Salzgitter Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on the development of carbon-free steel by examining the optimisation of Rio Tinto’s high-quality Canadian and Australian iron ore products for use in Salzgitter’s SALCOS green steel project in Germany.
Rio Tinto and Salzgitter will investigate the optimization of iron ore pellets, lumps, and fines for hydrogen direct reduction steelmaking. Additionally, the two firms will investigate the possibility of greenhouse gas emission certification throughout the steel value chain.
Rio Tinto manufactures iron ore pellets and concentrate at Iron Ore Company of Canada, as well as iron ore lump and fines in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The alliance will focus on the prospective application of these products in the SALCOS® – Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking initiative, which aims for nearly carbon-free steel manufacturing beginning progressively in 2025 through the use of hydrogen direct reduction.
Rio Tinto Chief Commercial Officer Alf Barrios said “We welcome the chance to work with Salzgitter on ways to accelerate green steelmaking, in keeping with our commitment to reduce emissions across the steel value chain.
“Salzgitter has one of the world’s most advanced green steelmaking projects. Rio Tinto is excited at the opportunity of supplying our product and combining our technical expertise with that of Salzgitter to help advance the SALCOS project.”
Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH Chairman of the Management Board Ulrich Grethe said “With this alliance, we want to combine the knowledge of both companies to make further progress with low-carbon steel production.
“In this context, the Salzgitter Group is relying on strong partners, as set out in our ‘Salzgitter AG 2030’ Group strategy, in line with its motto of ‘Partnering for Circular Solutions’.”
Rio Tinto is committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and aims to reduce Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 15 percent by 2025 (from a 2018 baseline) and by 50 percent by 2030. Rio Tinto’s strategy for mitigating Scope 3 emissions involves engaging its customers on climate change and collaborating with them to develop decarbonisation solutions.
Under the SALCOS initiative, the carbon-based blast furnace method at Salzgitter will be gradually replaced by direct reduction plants, initially powered by natural gas and subsequently a constantly increasing proportion of hydrogen, beginning in the middle of this decade.
