JFE Steel Corporation announced today that it has agreed with Itochu Corporation and Emirates Steel Arkan, the largest steel company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to jointly conduct detailed feasibility studies on the establishment of a supply chain of the Ferrous Raw Material for Green Ironmaking with Low-carbon Emission, hereinafter “the Ferrous Material”, at the project site in Abu Dhabi.

At a time when the steel industry is keenly focused on decarbonization amid the accelerating global push toward carbon neutrality, the three companies will now collaborate on developing solutions to this end.

Emirates Steel will produce the Ferrous Material through a drastically decarbonized process. Price-competitive natural gas will be used to directly reduce the iron ore, but the CO₂ emitted by this process will be injected into UAE oil fields for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) under the practice of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). An eventual switch from natural gas-power sources to solar-power sources is envisioned. Emirates Steel ultimately plans to achieve net-zero CO₂ emissions by adopting hydrogen reduction if the process becomes an established global technology.

Around 80% of the CO₂ emissions from steelmaking via blast furnaces come from the iron ore reduction process in the furnaces. CO₂ emissions can be reduced by using the Ferrous Material as the iron source rather than using coke to reduce the iron ore. JFE Steel plans to use the Ferrous Material produced through this project as a steelmaking raw material and promote CO₂ emissions reduction.

Based on a previously completed viability study, the detailed feasibility studies will focus on building a supply chain. Itochu will be responsible for stably procuring high-grade iron ore and Emirates Steel will be responsible for the production of the Ferrous Material. Production of the Ferrous Material is expected to begin in the second half of FY2025 at a joint venture to be established in the UAE. The supply of the Ferrous Material to users in the Asian market including JFE Steel is to begin thereafter.

In May 2021, JFE Holdings, Inc., JFE Steel’s parent company, introduced the JFE Group Environmental Vision for 2050 as a roadmap for addressing climate change as a top priority, based on which the group is now working vigorously toward viable solutions. Going forward, JFE group will continue to pursue a multitrack approach aimed at developing the best possible ultra-innovative technologies for a more sustainable world.

Emirates Steel Arkan

Location	: Abu Dhabi Industrial City (ICAD), Musaffah, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Established	: 1998
CEO	: HE Engineer Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi
Business	: Steel
Major shareholders	: SENAAT (Abu Dhabi government-affiliated investment company) and general investors

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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