Nippon Steel has entered into an equity participation agreement with Whitehaven Coal Limited (WHC) to acquire a 20% interest in the Blackwater coal mine (BW Coal Mine) in the State of Queensland, Australia for $720 million. In addition, Nippon Steel has entered into long-term coal offtake rights agreement with WHC, under which WHC will supply steelmaking coal produced at the BW Coal Mine to Nippon Steel.

JFE Steel also signed an agreement with WHC to acquire a 10% interest in the Blackwater coal mine for $360 million, along with a long-term offtake agreement for coal supply from the mine.

To achieve both carbon dioxide emission reduction and stable and efficient pig iron production in the blast furnace hydrogen reduction process, it is essential to improve the quality (e.g., strength) of the coke input.

Whitehaven’s Blackwater Coal Mine produces high-quality coking coal, which has low impurities and emits less greenhouse gases than conventional coking coal. The mine has long been a major source of coking coal for steelmaking.

Conceptual diagram of carbon-recycling blast furnace. JFE Steel’s proprietary carbon-recycling blast furnace is an ultra-innovative technology that will enable the repeated use of carbon by recovering CO2 as a resource, converting it to methane using methanation technology, and utilizing it as a reducing agent in the blast furnace process.

The demand for coking coal is expected to grow as the production of crude steel using the blast furnace method increases in India and Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, both the development and expansion of coking coal mines are becoming increasingly difficult, leading to concerns that the supply of coking coal will become tighter in the future.