BHP and China Baowu extend steel decarbonisation pact with blast furnace and DRI trials

BHP and China Baowu Steel have renewed their steel decarbonisation partnership for five more years. The agreement focuses on cutting emissions from existing blast furnaces and testing whether Pilbara iron ore can work in hydrogen-based direct reduced iron (DRI) and electric smelting furnace (ESF) processes. The blast furnace work aims to demonstrate CO2 emissions intensity at least 30 percent below conventional operations, with the potential for deeper cuts if carbon storage and renewable energy are available at scale. A previous trial in Baowu's one-million-tonne-per-year hydrogen-based DRI furnace produced iron with half the emissions intensity of blast furnace metal, and pilot-scale ESF tests point toward near-zero emissions steelmaking. BHP defines "near zero" as 0.40 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per tonne of crude steel using only ore. The renewed partnership also sits alongside the NeoSmelt pilot plant at Kwinana, where BHP, Rio Tinto, and BlueScope are working to show Pilbara ore can support lower-carbon iron production. These are demonstration targets, not yet commercial-scale achievements.