Construction of Duqm steel project advances

MUSCAT, MAR 14
A key piece of hardware destined for the low-carbon steel project of Jindal Steel Duqm has arrived at the Port of Duqm, marking an important milestone in the construction of the landmark venture.
Well-known marine logistics provider Kanoo Shipping announced over the weekend that it oversaw the delivery of a mammoth 935-metric-tonne reactor for the Duqm steel project. The shipment marks the project’s progression from heavy civil works into major equipment installation.
Jindal Steel Duqm, a subsidiary of India’s Naveen Jindal Group, is developing a 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) low-carbon steel complex in the Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZAD) with an investment of about $3 billion.
The project comprises two Direct Reduction Iron (DRI) plants, each with a capacity of 2.5 MTPA, operating on Energiron technology — a gas-based DRI process that converts iron-ore pellets or lump ore into high-purity metallic iron, known as DRI or hot-briquetted iron (HBI), by removing oxygen with a reducing gas made mainly from natural gas or hydrogen, instead of using coal in a blast furnace. The technology was originally developed by Italian engineering firms Tenova and Danieli Group and is marketed jointly under the Energiron brand.
Last September, the Italian firms announced that they had secured firm orders for the construction and delivery of a second DRI plant for the Duqm project. Featuring zero-reformer Energiron technology, the plant is designed to deliver an average metallisation rate of 94 per cent.
“This project will leverage Oman’s natural gas and renewable-energy potential, converted into hydrogen. Carbon capture facilities — a naturally embedded feature of the technology — will allow for the reuse of captured carbon and will be integrated seamlessly into Jindal Steel Duqm’s larger green steel complex”, the equipment manufacturers noted at the time.
In a recent interview with The Energy Year, a UK-based news portal, Harssha Shetty, CEO of Jindal Steel Oman, said the first phase of the Duqm project is planned for launch early in 2027.
“Our green steel project in Al Duqm will be operational by Q1 2027. We have already made significant progress towards reaching key milestones, released all long-lead item orders and made payments to contractors. We now have the right partners in place and on-site to ensure that the project begins production within the next 15 months”, he was quoted as saying.