The Ferro Verde project, developed by Brazil Iron, promises to put Bahia and Brazil on the global map of steel industry decarbonization. With production expected to begin in 2030 and more than R$1.7 billion already invested in research, the initiative will be the first in Brazil to manufacture Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) — a product known as green iron — with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

“Ferro Verde is a decarbonization project. Period,” summarizes Emerson das Neves Souza, the company’s Vice President of Institutional Relations. HBI, he explains, is an ultra-high-purity product — containing at least 93% iron — that can replace traditional iron ore in steel production without the use of coal, relying solely on electric furnaces powered by renewable energy. The result is a clean, efficient, and economically viable process. “It is green both upstream and downstream,” says Emerson. “Upstream, because its production uses renewable energy; downstream, because it helps reduce emissions from the steel industry, which currently accounts for 8% of global CO₂ emissions.”

The path to this innovation began eight years ago with the discovery of high-purity iron deposits in the region of Piatã, Abaíra, and Jussiape, in Chapada Diamantina. The project includes three processing plants: the first, located in Piatã, will produce purified pellet feed; the second and third, located in the vicinity of Bahia’s port facilities, will carry out the final processing stages, culminating in the production of green iron briquettes. The final facility will be built using technology licensed from the U.S.-based Midrex, a global leader in HBI production. “We will build here a plant identical to the most advanced facility currently operating in the world,” says Emerson.

With the support of the federal and state governments, Brazil Iron expects to begin implementation as early as 2026. The goal is to reach an annual production capacity of 5 million tonnes of HBI, representing a significant share of global production, which totaled just 35 million tonnes in 2024.

News source: www.brasilmineral.com.br

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