In a development that may affect Pyrogenesis’ iron ore pelletization offering, it appears that LKAB, the Swedish government owned mining giant, has abandoned pursuing fossil fuel free iron ore pellets in favor of fossil fuel free (hydrogen reduced) sponge iron — in the context of its HYBRIT green steel collaboration with SSAB and Vattenfall.

This April, LKAB issued a press release about HYBRIT in which the following was said:

“LKAB is now moving towards a rapid industrialisation of the Hybrit technology for transforming production in Malmberget/Gällivare, which is closely integrated with SSAB. The plan is to synchronise the transition with SSAB's planned transition and to have switched entirely from pellet production to sponge iron amounting to some 5.4 million tonnes by the 2030s.“

If pellets are out for the HYBRIT initiative, then pelletization is moot, with or without plasma.

BUT — in LKAB’s 2021 Annual and Sustainability Report, they say that:

“For the foreseeable future we will be dependent on the existing market for iron ore and iron ore pellets, and we need to continue improving the existing operations in parallel in order to maintain our competitiveness.”

In fact, they also say that “The outlook for long-term demand for LKAB’s iron ore products remains good and we still have a situation in which demand for our products exceeds production capacity.”

That makes sense. Iron ore pellets are 80% of their current business. And HYBRIT, while getting lots of love from the Swedish government and industry, is in its early days (they are still applying for permits!).

The question then becomes, outside of the HYBRIT partnership, will LKAB service the market for greener iron ore pellets for OTHER green steel customers?

There may be a clue in LKAB’s June 3 press release about a technical cooperation agreement with German steelmaker Salzgitter, in which they say that:

“[LKAB] has already started to transition its production of iron ore to carbon-free sponge iron…”

BUT ALSO that…

“Very high-quality iron ore pellets are required for the new steelmaking process via SALCOS® involving direct reduction plants and electric arc furnaces.”

Soooo….. maybe Salzgitter got nervous about all this talk about LKAB switching entirely to sponge iron when Salzgitter's green steel process uses pellets…. And maybe Salzgitter got on the phone with LKAB to ensure that their supply of pellets was assured.

In which case, shouldn’t LKAB still be pursuing work on fossil fuel-free iron ore pellets using its successful biofuel / plasma pellet experiment? Couldn’t that then create an opening for our plasma-based iron ore pelletization offering? (Maybe we need to make friends with the folks at Salzgitter.)

LKAB is a big deal in EU. Would be nice if they could green up both the sponge iron and the pellets. I love that they are going big on hydrogen and I appreciate they want to tout and (eventually) export their homegrown technology… but I would prefer an “all of the above” approach to greening steel.

Anybody have any insight on this? I am having trouble separating the vaporware from the hardware.


SOURCES

Plasma mentioned by LKAB in 2019 — “Eventually, LKAB hopes to achieve totally carbon-dioxide-free pellet production”: https://www.lkab.com/en/news-room/press-releases/hybrit-construction-begins--lkab-takes-the-leap-towards-fossil-free-production-of-iron-ore-pellets/
 
Plasma mentioned by LKAB in 2020 -- "Trials using fossil-free fuels in LKAB’s pellet plant have produced successful results"... https://www.lkab.com/en/news-room/press-releases/hybrit-successful-trials-using-fossil-free-fuels-in-the-pellet-process/

April 26, 2022 HYBRIT press release mentioning the switch AWAY from pellets: https://www.lkab.com/en/news-room/press-releases/a-faster-pace-and-higher-targets-in-lkabs-transition-towards-a-sustainable-future/

The June 3 LKAB press release about Salzgitter technical cooperation: https://www.lkab.com/en/news-room/press-releases/lkab-and-salzgitter-group-forge-technical-cooperation-agreement/?aid=16447

LKAB’s 2021 Annual and Sustainability Report website: https://arsredovisning.lkab.com/2021-english/

LKAB’s 2021 Annual and Sustainability Report document: https://arsredovisning.lkab.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/LKAB-Annual-And-Sustainability-Report-2021.pdf

Peter Pascali discusses LKAB on agoracom in 2021: https://agoracom.com/ir/PyroGenesisCanada/forums/discussion/topics/755372-hybrit-lkab-ssab-and-vattenfall/messages/2303764