BHP and China Baowu renew five-year steel decarbonisation MoU
- Partnership renewed under a five-year MoU to continue collaboration on lower-emissions steelmaking and innovation.
- Priority to develop modified blast furnace tech targeting ≥30% CO2 intensity reduction vs conventional BF, and >80% with carbon storage and renewables.
- Ongoing DRI trials using Pilbara ores and planned processing in Baowu’s demonstration electric smelting furnace (ESF).
- Prior trials included a 1Mtpa hydrogen DRI run that produced iron at 50% of blast-furnace CO2 intensity and enabled pilot ESF tests demonstrating near‑zero potential (0.40 tCO2e/t crude steel).
Agreement
BHP and China Baowu have renewed their steel decarbonisation partnership via a new five‑year Memorandum of Understanding, extending collaboration that began in 2020 to advance lower‑emission steelmaking across the value chain.
Focus areas
The MoU prioritises progressing modified blast furnace technologies to demonstrate at least a 30% reduction in CO2 intensity compared with conventional blast furnaces, with potential reductions exceeding 80% when paired with carbon storage and renewable energy. A second priority is continued DRI trials using BHP’s Pilbara iron ores and subsequent processing in China Baowu’s planned demonstration electric smelting furnace (ESF).
Previous trials and technical results
Since November 2020 the partners have run multiple pilots and trials. A notable outcome was using Pilbara ores in a 1Mtpa hydrogen‑based DRI furnace, producing iron with roughly 50% of the CO2 intensity of blast‑furnace metal and enabling pilot ESF tests that demonstrated near‑zero emissions steelmaking potential (defined as 0.40 tonnes CO2‑e per tonne of crude steel under the IEA/Responsible Steel threshold).
Collaboration and next steps
The partnership includes joint funding of demonstration and abatement projects, work to enable reduced emissions in existing blast furnaces, and efforts to de‑risk hydrogen‑ and electricity‑based pathways using Pilbara ore. In 2024 the partners also launched the China Baowu–Monash–BHP Industry Knowledge Centre for Low Carbon Metallurgy to coordinate research across institutes in China and Australia.
Source: BHP