On April 11, Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. began construction of a zero-carbon high-end steel sheet plant, the first of its kind in China using hydrogen-based shaft furnace and electric furnace to produce high-quality steel sheet with nearly zero carbon emission.

With total investment estimated at RMB4.5 billion (USD622 million), the new plant will be equipped with a 220-ton efficient green electric furnace, refining facilities, 2150mm single strand slab continuous casting machine and other associated public facilities. The plant, with a production capacity of around 1.8 million tonnes per annum of zero-carbon steel sheet, is scheduled to finish construction by late 2025.

When completed, the plant will use direct reduction iron and steel scrap as the main raw materials to produce near-zero-carbon billet, which is then processed on site by rolling facility into high-end steel sheet products, using green energy during the whole process. It is estimated that the new short-process plant will cut carbon emission by more than 3.14 million tonnes per annum compared with the long-process steel plant with the same production scale using blast furnace and converter.