Korea unveils steel plan, eyes low-carbon project fund | Argus Media
South Korea has announced a steel industry development strategy and plans to create a 150bn South Korean won ($115.9mn) fund to support low-carbon steel production. South Korea aims to replace 11 blast furnaces with 14 hydrogen direct reduction reactors by 2050. The government will set aside W26.9bn over 2023-25 to finish developing the hydrogen direct reduction technology by 2025, with hydrogen used instead of coal to reduce iron ore. It will also secure a budget to conduct a 1mn t demonstration by 2030. Motie expects the introduction of this technology to cut the steel industry's carbon emissions by 85pc or 86mn t, from 101.2mn t in 2018.There will also be an investment of W240bn by 2030 to develop technology to minimise carbon emissions in existing blast furnaces and EAFs through fuel substitutions and high-efficiency EAFs. This is in light of the amount of time introducing hydrogen direct reduction technology will take.
Third, South Korea plans to shift towards developing high-value steel products, in response to changes in material demand from major industries such as automobiles and shipbuilding. This is especially for high-manganese steel that can withstand cryogenic environments such as LNG and liquefied hydrogen storage tanks. Lastly, South Korea will consider taking countermeasures to trade barriers and exports in efforts to boost steel exports, including consulting with the EU about its carbon border adjustment mechanism(CBAM) that levies a tax on imports with high carbon intensities. The country sees new steel demand from emerging markets such as the Middle East, India and the Asean countries, with plans to continue negotiations for free trade agreements."
Where do you think Korea is going to get its DR grade feed from for its 14 Hydrogen DR reactors? Also, how much green steel is going to be produced to revolutionize the automatibles/shipbuilding industry? Interesting times.
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