High-grade iron ore, ultra-low CO2 direct-reduced iron and its processed form, hot-briquetted iron, should be part of the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, José Noldin, CEO of hydrogen-based DRI project developer GravitHy, said March 25.
“If a certain raw material is included in the CRMA then you have access to funding, which creates a stronger value chain,” Noldin said at the bi-annual members meeting of the International Iron Metallics Association in San Sebastian, Spain.
The European Commission “seems open to it,” he added.
Noldin told Platts on the sidelines of the event that GravitHy is actively pushing for this on European level but that there is no timeline yet on when and if the EC would make a decision.
The EC did not respond to a request for comment when asked by Platts on March 25.
Hurdles on path to decarbonization
According to Noldin, Europe would finally “walk the talk” in implementing steel decarbonization, but he said more funding and legislation are needed to achieve this successfully.
Historical barriers for the adoption of hydrogen-based DRI/HBI production remain and the industry should move away from integrated steelmaking, “decoupling the value chain of iron and steel,” Noldin said.
Instead of bringing hydrogen to steel production, bringing HBI production to where the energy is would be a more realistic approach amid the lack of sufficient infrastructure for hydrogen in Europe, he added.
GravitHy is building an HBI plant at Fos-sur-Mer, France. It will process pellets, supplied by Brazil’s Rio Tinto, into HBI used by electric arc furnaces to produce low-emission steel. The plant will be operational from 2028 and produce 2 million mt/y of HBI, Noldin said.
Platts assessed HBI imports at $350/mt CFR Mediterranean March 24, up $5/mt on the day. Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.
The EC released its list of 47 critical raw material projects across 13 EU member states classified as strategic projects under the EU on March 25, but none of them were ferrous metals-based projects.
The European CRMA entered into force in May 2024. It aims to ensure the secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials for Europe’s industry and significantly lower the EU’s dependency on imports from third countries.
