Rio Tinto and the Salzgitter Group have agreed in an MoU – Memorandum of Understanding – to examine technical, logistical, and grade-specific issues for low-carbon supply chains and green steel production processes.
The focus will be on the future supply of high-quality iron ore products for the SALCOS program. The SALCOS – SAlzgitter Low CO2Steelmaking program will play a prominent role here as by 2033, the Salzgitter Group will have achieved virtually carbon-free steel production thanks to SALCOS, assuming the right economic conditions and significant public funding.
Rio Tinto Chief Commercial Officer Alf Barrios said, “We welcome the chance to work with Salzgitter on ways to accelerate 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-program.”
Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH Chairman of the Management Board, Ulrich Grethe, commented as follows: “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, line with its motto of ‘Partnering for Circular Solutions’.”
The technical issues comprise the following in detail: optimizing pellet quality with respect to direct reduction with hydrogen, the use of lump ore and other iron carriers when reducing by hydrogen, and the production of a sinter for deployment in a direct reduction plant when reducing by hydrogen. Furthermore, the carbon emissions in the entire supply chain and opportunities for their registration and certification are to be examined.
Both companies will also actively engage in this sphere as with low-carbon steel production and the requisite raw materials they can lay the foundation for achieving their sustainability targets and those of their customers.
