POSCO Partners with Australia’s BHP on Hydrogen Reduction Steelmaking… Verifying HyREX Commercialization

HyREX Commercial Technology Verification Using BHP Iron Ore
R&D Collaboration with Raw Materials Suppliers Strengthens Foundation for Decarbonization

POSCO has partnered with Australian mining company BHP to jointly verify the commercialization of hydrogen reduction steelmaking technology.

POSCO Headquarters in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Younghan Heo

On September 3, POSCO announced that it had signed a hydrogen reduction steelmaking collaboration agreement with BHP at Cheongsongdae in Pohang. The two companies will work together to verify the commercial viability of HyREX, POSCO's proprietary hydrogen reduction steelmaking process.

BHP is a global raw materials supplier that has long provided POSCO with iron ore, metallurgical coal for steel production, and nickel. POSCO plans to utilize BHP’s iron ore to test HyREX’s performance under various feedstock conditions and to strengthen the foundation for commercialization.

HyREX is a technology that produces molten iron using hydrogen as the reducing agent instead of coal. POSCO intends to confirm that HyREX operates stably with real feedstock conditions, analyze how the process performance varies depending on the properties and quality of iron ore, and ultimately determine the optimal feedstock conditions. For BHP, the partnership provides an opportunity to verify the applicability of its iron ore in next-generation low-carbon steelmaking processes.

The two companies will also share technical experience related to hydrogen reduction steelmaking raw materials and seek ways to reduce Scope 3 carbon emissions generated throughout the raw materials supply chain.

This agreement is a follow-up to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in October last year in the presence of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and POSCO Group Chairman Jeong In-hwa. The scope of the partnership has thus expanded from traditional resource trading to the field of research and development (R&D).

POSCO is also broadening its scope of open innovation by collaborating with global companies. Following its 2024 partnership with Primetals, an engineering and plant supplier, on hydrogen reduction steelmaking technology, POSCO has now extended its collaborations to include raw materials suppliers such as BHP.

Um Kyunggeun, Head of POSCO Technical Research Laboratories, said, "This partnership is significant in that a steelmaker and a global raw materials supplier are preparing together for the future of low-carbon steelmaking. Starting with BHP, we will expand cooperation with global raw materials companies to accelerate the development of low-carbon steelmaking technologies."

Ben Ellis, Head of Marketing and Sustainability at BHP, commented, "This project is an extension of the long-standing collaboration with POSCO on innovative steelmaking technologies. By supporting POSCO’s decarbonization initiatives, we aim to ensure that Australian iron ore continues to play a role in low-carbon steel production."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.