POSCO Partners with BHP on Hydrogen-Reduction Ironmaking, Validating HyREX with Australian Iron Ore

[Financial News] POSCO is strengthening cooperation with global raw-material suppliers as it transitions to a decarbonized production system.
On the 3rd, POSCO signed a hydrogen-reduction ironmaking cooperation agreement with Australian mining company BHP at Cheongsongdae in Pohang. Under the agreement, the two companies will work together to validate the commercial technology of POSCO’s HyREX hydrogen reduction ironmaking process.
BHP is a raw-material supplier to POSCO, providing iron ore, coking coal for steelmaking, and nickel. Under the agreement, POSCO plans to use BHP’s iron ore to validate HyREX’s performance under various raw-material conditions and strengthen the foundation for commercializing the technology.
HyREX is a technology that uses hydrogen instead of coal as a reducing agent to produce molten iron. POSCO will verify whether the HyREX process operates reliably under actual raw-material conditions. It will also test changes in process performance based on the characteristics and quality of iron ore to identify optimal raw-material conditions.
Through the cooperation, BHP will validate the applicability of its iron ore in next-generation low-carbon steelmaking processes.
The two companies will also share technical expertise on raw materials for hydrogen-reduction ironmaking and explore the potential to reduce Scope 3 carbon emissions linked to raw-material supply.
Eom Kyung-geun, head of POSCO’s Technical Research Laboratories, said, "Starting with BHP, we will expand cooperation with global raw-material suppliers and accelerate the development of low-carbon steelmaking technologies."

[email protected] Kim Mi-hee Reporter