JFE Steel Corporation announced today that increased use of scrap iron at its steelmaking facilities in Japan enabled the company to reduce CO₂ emissions by some 170,000 tons in fiscal 2021 (ended in March 2022). The achievement was made possible by introducing the eco-friendly Double-slag Refining Process (DRP^®) at each facility. DRP is a converter-type molten-iron pretreatment process that allows extra scrap iron to be used in converters, which results in fewer CO₂ emissions in steelmaking operations.

Molten iron pretreatment removes impurities such as silicon and phosphorus from molten iron tapped from a blast furnace. The process improves yield by reducing the need for adding auxiliary materials. DRP technology, however, makes maximum use of the silicon in molten iron as a heat source and allows the molten-iron blending ratio (molten iron vs. scrap charged into the converter) to be reduced to 82%, down from 90% conventionally.

The JFE Group Environmental Vision for 2050, introduced in May 2021, has positioned climate change as one of parent JFE’s top priorities, based on which the group is vigorously pursuing diverse solutions in order to lower the impact of its overall operations. Under this vision, JFE Steel is working to significantly reduce its CO₂ emissions by investigating multiple potential technologies in order to find and adopt the very best solutions for low-impact processes that ultimately contribute to a more sustainable world.

About JFE Steel Corporation

JFE Steel Corporation, one of the world’s leading integrated steel producers, was established through the consolidation of NKK Corporation and Kawasaki Steel Corporation in 2003. The company operates several steelworks in Japan and numerous branch offices and affiliates throughout the world. JFE Steel leverages world-class technologies and know-how to produce a wide range of products based on its “Only One, Number One” strategy of focusing on unique and best-in-class products. The company reported consolidated sales of 2,255 billion yen and consolidated crude steel output of 23.96 million tons in the fiscal year ended March 2021.

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