Clean steelmaking routes and iron ore quality

Steel accounts for 8% to 11% of global CO2 emissions. Chemistry World published on 26 October 2026 a feature by Frances Briggs, reposted by Klaus Steven, on clean steel routes: scrap-based electric furnaces, direct reduction with gas or hydrogen, as in Scandinavia, and iron electrowinning. The main obstacle cited is economic: high capital, costly power and oversupply.

There is also a raw material limit. The IEEFA report Iron Ore Quality a Potential Headwind to Green Steelmaking, from June 2022, notes that ore for direct reduction ideally holds 67% iron or more and that pellets of that grade were 4% of global exports.

A hydrogen reduction plant depends on electrolysers, renewable power and a scarce mineral input. Contracting high-grade pellets matters as much as contracting power.

For Brazil, with high-grade ore and renewable potential, this opens room to export reduced iron, not just ore. It requires pelletising and reduction close to the mine.