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Abu Dhabi Ports in green steel deal with UK producer

By Sarah Townsend
Steel in the rolling mill following the recommissioning of the works by Liberty Steel Group at the Dalzell steel plant in Motherwell in the UK. Liberty is one of the world's biggest steel producers Reuters
Steel in the rolling mill at a Liberty Steel plant. Liberty is one of the world's biggest steel producers
  • Deal agreed with Liberty
  • Importing magnetite ore 
  • Liberty owned by Sanjeev Gupta

Abu Dhabi Ports Group and the UK’s Liberty Steel Group have agreed to work together on importing magnetite ore – used in green iron and steel production – from Australia to the UAE. 

The memorandum of understanding was signed this week. They will explore plans to create a green iron production facility in the Khalifa Economic Zone Abu Dhabi, and develop a related infrastructure and conveyor system at Khalifa Port.  

Green iron and steel is produced using renewable energy such as green hydrogen, and is being touted as a solution to decarbonising the high-emitting metals industry. 

The steel industry produces 7 percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally, according to the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. 

Steel production is highly reliant on coal, and over the past decade total emissions from iron and steel have risen as a result of high demand, the International Energy Agency notes. 

Liberty, one of the world’s 10 biggest steel producers, is owned by billionaire Sanjeev Gupta.

AD Ports and Liberty said the producer has access to 4 billion tons of South Australia’s premium grade magnetite ore – what AD Ports calls an “ideal feedstock” for green iron and steel – while the UAE offers renewable energy potential and advanced port infrastructure and connectivity. 

The agreement “has the potential to achieve major strides in the decarbonisation of the international iron and steel production industry”, said Saif Al Mazrouei, chief executive, ports cluster, of AD Ports Group. 

Gupta, who is executive chairman of Liberty’s parent company GFG Alliance, added: “There is no solution to reaching net zero without addressing the largest industrial emitter of CO2.”

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