POSCO Expands Collaboration with Global Iron Ore Supplier Vale on Mild Steel Raw Materials
South Korea's largest steel producer POSCO and Vale, the world's leading supplier of iron ore, will expand their cooperation to provide low-carbon steel raw materials.
The companies have signed a joint research agreement to promote the production of low-carbon hot briquetted iron (HBI) at the Vale headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The signing ceremony was attended by Ju-tae Lee, Head of Purchasing and Investment at POSCO, and Louis Meriz, Vale's Global Director of Iron Ore and Coal Sales.
POSCO and Vale decided to conduct joint research on the selection of potential regions, analysis of production process costs and investment costs, and measures to reduce carbon emissions in the production process to promote the HBI business. Both companies plan to complete a basic analysis of the HBI business by the end of this year, including determining the optimal plant location, scale, production method and economic feasibility.
Last November, POSCO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Vale regarding carbon neutral cooperation and conducted joint research on how to use low carbon raw materials in this process. With this agreement, the area of joint research on carbon neutrality has expanded into the business of HBI.
POSCO Group is building a sustainable production system to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.