Steel yourself - Rio Tinto and China Baowu have completed industrial-scale pelletisation and shaft furnace trials in China using the former's Pilbara Blend iron ore, as part of a partnership study looking to reduce steelmaking emissions, they announced. Under the trials, China Baowu used a hydrogen-based shaft furnace to produce direct reduced iron (DRI) from pellets comprising one-third Pilbara Blend ore. The DRI was then successfully converted into steel in an industrial-scale basic oxygen furnace and was also tested in a small-scale electric smelting furnace. Rio said the trials show mid-grade ores mined in Western Australia can be used for hydrogen-based direct reduction feedstock and could be a future source for low-carbon steelmaking when combined with electric smelting furnace technology. Expanding feedstock and fuel options for direct reduction shaft furnace production is a key industry focus, and the work delivers on a key milestone under a 2023 MoU between Baowu and Rio to explore options to decarbonise the steel value chain. Both companies continue to work together on other projects under the MoU, they said.

The New Zealand government is looking to keep its ETS price controls and settings as is, in line with advice from the Climate Change Commission (CCC), according to a consultation published Friday.

Trading of California Carbon Allowances (CCAs) slowed following the high of regulator ARB's recent vote on proposed Cap-and-Invest programme changes, while Washington Carbon Allowance (WCA) prices and trading activity dipped into the Q2 auction results.