JFE Steel Corporation, Itochu Corporation and Emirates Steel Arkan, the largest steel company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will conduct joint detailed feasibility studies on the establishment of a supply chain of ferrous raw material for green ironmaking with low-carbon emission at the project site in Abu Dhabi.

Emirates Steel will produce the ferrous material through a drastically decarbonized process. Price-competitive natural gas will be used for the direct reduction of iron ore, but the CO₂ emitted by this process will be injected into UAE oil fields for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) under the practice of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS).

An eventual switch from natural gas-power sources to solar-power sources is envisioned. Emirates Steel ultimately plans to achieve net-zero CO₂ emissions by adopting hydrogen reduction if the process becomes an established global technology.

Around 80% of the CO₂ emissions from steelmaking via blast furnaces come from the iron ore reduction process in the furnaces. CO₂ emissions can be reduced by using the ferrous material as the iron source rather than using coke to reduce the iron ore. JFE Steel plans to use the ferrous material produced through this project as a steelmaking raw material and promote CO₂ emissions reduction.

Based on a previously completed viability study, the detailed feasibility studies will focus on building a supply chain. Itochu will be responsible for stably procuring high-grade iron ore and Emirates Steel will be responsible for the production of the ferrous material.

Production of the ferrous material is expected to begin in the second half of FY2025 at a joint venture to be established in the UAE. The supply of the ferrous material to users in the Asian market including JFE Steel is to begin thereafter.