Blastr Green Steel signed a partnership agreement with Belgium-based Lhoist, a global leader in lime, dolime, and mineral solutions, to develop a scalable decarbonized value chain for ultra-low CO₂ steel production in Europe.

Blastr and Lhoist aim to reach an agreement on the future supply of Lhoist’s LEVEL|GREEN low carbon lime and dolime, which would reduce Scope 3 emissions of the Inkoo plant with up to 50 kg CO₂ per tonne of steel, supporting Blastr’s sustainability targets. Lhoist launched its LEVEL|GREEN low-carbon lime and mineral products in 2023.

Tailored mixes of lime and dolime are used in the formation of synthetic slags. Quicklime facilitates the creation of slag and increases sulfur elimination. Dolime increases process speed to boost productivity and improve the resulting steel. It also protects refractory linings and enables slag foaming in the EAF (electric arc furnace) for better thermal efficiencies.

Blastr aims to produce 2.5 million tonnes of ultra-low CO₂ steel annually in its future steel plant in Inkoo, Finland. Lime and dolime are essential raw materials for steel production, and the agreement’s purpose is to evaluate the supply of these materials to Blastr.

Initiating cooperation with Lhoist for the possible use of LEVEL|GREEN low carbon lime and dolime could aid Blastr’s Scope 3 embodied emissions reduction by as much as 50 kg CO₂ per tonnes of steel. Using low CO₂ raw materials is of utmost importance in our ambitious journey to produce steel with CO₂ emissions as low as 300kg per tonne corresponding to 90% lower CO₂ emissions throughout the value chain.

—Mikael Lindvall, Chief Technology Officer at Blastr

The partnership will include technical support for selecting lime and dolime products and implementing them into the steel production process. Lhoist will also evaluate an investment project for a terminal handling the supply of the products to the steel plant and support Blastr with its permitting process throughout this evaluation. The partners aim to sign a supply agreement in due course, which is subject to Blastr’s final investment decision for the steel plant.

In June, Blastr executed a financing round with strategic partners, advancing the development of a European integrated ultra-low CO₂ steel value chain with its flagship steel plant in Finland.

Global steel industry leader Cargill Metals, Germany-based steel trader INTERFER Group, Tesi, Finland’s state-owned venture capital investment company, and Blastr’s founder Vanir Green Industries participated in the equity financing round.

The proceeds will be used to progress development planning for the steel plant in Inkoo, Finland, and a facility in Northern Europe designed for producing 6 million metric tonnes (Mt) of high-quality low-carbon DR (direct reduction) pellets feedstock annually. The funding will also support organizational ramp-up aligned with commercial and supply chain activities.

As part of the next development phase, Blastr is establishing framework agreements covering the entire green steel value chain from the supply of steelmaking technology and working with Cargill Metals to finalize the supply of raw materials and feedstock for pellet production, to sales of surplus pellets, HBI (hot briquetted iron) and low-cost, ultra-low CO₂ steel products utilizing greener logistics. These agreements will form the basis for construction financing discussions with strategic and financial partners with the ambition of making final investment decision for both the pellet plant and the steel plant by early 2026 and commencing production before 2030.