SMS completes acquisition of Metso’s Ferrous technologies
SMS says it has completed the acquisition of Metso’s Ferrous business, which includes the travelling grate pelletising and “Circored” direct reduction processes.
The deal was announced last summer, and the transaction was projected to be completed for an undisclosed sum in the first quarter of 2026.
SMS is taking over selected Metso business units and technologies located in Germany, India, China and Australia, The German-based group will strengthen its solutions in the field of “green iron”. This approach combines fluidised-bed reduction from Circored with SMS group’s established Open Bath Furnace technology, forming a two-stage reduction process, the buyer explains.
By integrating agglomeration technologies for travelling grate pelletising, sintering and CFB (Circulating Fluid Bed) calcination, SMS says it is broadening its upstream process in the direct reduction route.
Iron ore agglomeration is essential for producing the feedstock required by shaft furnace direct reduction processes as well as conventional ironmaking, SMS explains. It notes that customers will have a single source partner for end to end solutions – from raw material processing to finished product systems.
Finland: Metso launches DRI smelting pilot facility to do customer-specific testing
Metso inaugurated a direct reduced iron smelting furnace pilot facility in Pori, Finland, with its hot commissioning to follow imminently, the Finnish industrial machinery company said in an Oct. 25 statement.
The new facility will allow customer-specific testing to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of Metso’s Outotec DRI Smelting Furnace technology. This technology was designed to substitute traditional blast furnaces in iron and steel production, significantly reducing emissions when combined with a direct reduction plant, such as Metso’s own 100% hydrogen-based Circored or other DR processes.
“The investment into the pilot furnace supports the rapidly increasing demand for testing when planning a transition to emissions-free smelting,” Metso’s Vice President Jyrki Makkonen said. “With the pilot facility, we can reliably test various types of customer materials for industrial scale-up.”
Metso announced it was investing Eur8 million ($8.7 million) in a prototype direct reduced iron smelting furnace in January.
