Brazilian mining company Vale has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with German steelmaker Stahl-Holding-Saar (SHS) to develop solutions for carbon-neutral steelmaking.

The two firms will jointly study and explore the use of Vale’s green iron ore briquettes and direct reduction pellets in steelmaking, as well as Tecnored technology and a briquette plant located near SHS’ facilities.

Discover B2B Marketing That Performs

Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.

Find out more

The move is expected to contribute to Vale’s target to reduce its net Scope III emissions by 15% by 2035.

Vale also aims to lower its absolute Scope I and I emissions by 33% by 2030 and attain net-zero emissions by 2050.

SHS undertakes tasks for two major steel companies in Saarland, Aktien-Gesellschaft der Dillinger Hüttenwerke (Dillinger) and Saarstahl.

Earlier this year, Vale and Nippon Steel signed a memorandum to enact carbon-neutral steelmaking processes.

GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

By GlobalData

The firms will jointly research the use of raw materials that will contribute to direct reduced iron, green mould pig iron, green briquettes and other carbon-neutral steelmaking processes.

The partnership came after Nippon Steel announced its Nippon Steel Carbon Neutral Vision 2050 in March last year.

This plan positions global environmental issues as a ‘vital issue’ for Nippon Steel’s business management and aims to consider and carry out several measures in line with this.

In April this year, Vale began developing a $345m low-carbon pig iron plant in Marabá, Brazil.

Located near Vale’s iron ore open mine at Carajás, the facility is expected to have an annual output of 500,000t.

It is scheduled to become operational in 2025.

The facility will feature Tecnored’s technology that aims to enable the production of green pig iron by replacing metallurgical coal with biomass. Pig iron is used in the production of steel.

According to Vale, the use of biomass can reduce carbon emissions by up to 100%.

Mining Technology Excellence Awards - Nominations Closed

Nominations are now closed for the Mining Technology Excellence Awards. A big thanks to all the organisations that entered – your response has been outstanding, showcasing exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact

Excellence in Action
Awarded the 2025 Mining Technology Excellence Innovation Award for Equipment Diagnostics, Razor Labs’ DataMind AI™ platform turns sensor data and imagery into actionable maintenance insights, avoiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in downtime. Find out how leading mines are using DataMind AI™ to keep critical assets running.

Discover the Impact