Steel Products

H2 Green Steel, Vale Ink Pact for 'Green Industrial Hubs' in Americas

September 6, 2023

Sweden’s H2 Green Steel has signed an agreement with Brazilian miner Vale to jointly study the feasibility of developing green industrial hubs in Brazil and North America.

The sustainable steelmaker said on Wednesday it is exploring production of low-carbon steel value chain products, such as green hydrogen and hot-briquetted iron (HBI), using iron ore briquettes made by Vale as input material. Additionally, H2 Green Steel noted it would use renewable electricity as the energy source for its hydrogen production.

“…Both Brazil and parts of North America have great potential due to the access to both renewable energy sources, high-quality iron ore, and political willingness to support decarbonization projects, and it’s a great opportunity for us to explore our partnership with Vale beyond the pellet supply to our flagship plant in Boden,” Kajsa Ryttberg-Wallgren, H2 Green Steel’s EVP Growth and Hydrogen Business, said in a statement.

Recently, Vale and H2 Green Steel signed a pact to supply direct-reduction pellets to H2’s Boden plant in Sweden. Vale expects to reach a production capacity of 100 million tons of agglomerates (briquettes and pellets) after 2030.

H2 Green Steel said Vale is expected to build and operate briquette plants In the green industrial hubs, “which will feed direct-reduction reactors for the production of HBI and other metallics.”

The steelmaker added that the number of industrial hubs that will be built, their location, and production capacity will be determined following feasibility studies, developed jointly by the two companies.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is managing editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years, starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.