Collaborating with Salzgitter Flachstahl to advance green steelmaking

We have just signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with German firm, Salzgitter Flachstahl, to collaborate on the decarbonisation of the steelmaking industry by exploring ways to reduce carbon emissions. Salzgitter Flachstahl is the largest steel subsidiary of the Salzgitter Group that manufactures a range of high-quality steel products optimised for their particular application.

Together with Salzgitter Flachstahl, we intend to carry out research into feed materials, including iron ore pellets and lump iron ores that are suitable for use in direct reduction (DR) steelmaking based on natural gas and hydrogen. DR is a significantly less carbon-intensive production method than the usual blast furnace (BF) process.

High-quality iron ore from our Minas Rio and Kumba mines in Brazil and South Africa is already making an important contribution to the decarbonisation goal. As well as its ability to reduce the carbon intensity of traditional blast furnace (BF) steelmaking, it is also a feedstock for DR steelmaking – a segue to green steelmaking processes that use hydrogen, rather than fossil fuels, as a reductant.

We have set ambitious targets to help address climate change by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, including achieving carbon neutrality across Anglo American’s operations by 2040.

Peter Whitcutt CEO of Anglo American’s Marketing business

“While steel is a critical building block of our modern lives, and itself a critically needed material for the energy transition, the steel industry is a significant producer of carbon dioxide. That’s why we are committed to collaborating with industry-leading players like Salzgitter Flachstahl to develop strategies that capitalise on the premium quality properties of our products to help drive emissions reduction across the entire steelmaking sector.”

Ulrich Grethe, Chairman of the Management Board of Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH and member of the Group Management Board of Salzgitter AG said:

“With this project we continue to progress important milestones on the way to low CO2 steel production. In driving our SALCOS® technology concept forward, we aim to decarbonise steel production as efficiently and quickly as possible. We are delighted to be partnering with Anglo American, our long-standing major supplier of high-grade ores, for joint reflection and potential projects.”

Steelmaking is a significant contributor to Anglo American’s Scope 3 emissions, the emissions that result when our customers use our products. In line with our business’ commitment to reducing our GHG emissions by 30% by 2030, we’re exploring ways to collaborate with steelmakers such as Salzgitter Flachstahl around the world so together we can shape innovative strategies to achieve this ambitious goal.

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