Nippon Steel Corp will begin producing low-carbon raw materials as reduced iron produced using hydrogen

Japan's Nippon Steel Corp said on Thursday that it plans to begin producing low-carbon raw materials such as "reduced iron" produced using hydrogen, to meet the growing demand for so-called green steel.
Steel production accounts for about 7% to 9% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, so efforts to reduce them are one of the key goals in the fight against climate change.
"Instead of just supplying raw materials (such as iron ore and coking coal), we will be involved in raw materials as our own business," Nippon Steel President Eiji Hashimoto said at a press conference.
To advance decarbonization, we will need reduced iron. Our company will do this as our new business,” he said, adding that the company will seek to invest in projects to make hydrogen-reduced iron with partners.
Reduced iron is produced by removing oxygen from iron ore to make metallic iron without being smelted. Currently, reduced iron is largely produced using natural gas, but steelmakers worldwide are trying to produce reduced iron using hydrogen to help achieve a CO2-free steelmaking process.
Hashimoto said that Nippon Steel would be interested in participating in an iron ore project with its own hydrogen plant producing hydrogen from green electricity.
Hydrogen is considered green when it is produced from renewable energy from wind or solar power and passes through an electrolyzer.
Hashimoto said meanwhile, the world's No. 4 steelmaker will continue to invest in coking coal mines to obtain the supply of one of the key components of steelmaking, as new development projects for coal contract due to climate change concerns.
The company, which has stakes in several coking coal mines and iron ore mines, procures approximately 20% of its annual coking coal and iron ore imports from these holdings.
Hashimoto said coking coal is still needed to ensure that steelmaking can continue alongside process decarbonisation efforts.
High quality coking coal is required to go smoothly with decarbonization. We want to increase our interests in the mines and ensure a stable supply of coking coal,” he said.