The smelting furnace is designed to produce high-quality iron units with lower emissions. Credit: DedMityay/Shutterstock.com.
Fortescue Metals has produced the first hot metal at its Christmas Creek Green Metal Project in Western Australia, which features a direct reduced iron (DRI) smelting furnace supplied by Metso.
The project, located in the Pilbara region, is testing new low-emission technologies for processing iron ore.
Metso supplied the core design and technology, with installation of the electric DRI smelting furnace beginning in September 2025.
The project aims to evaluate the potential of Metso’s technology to process local iron ore fines via lower-emission iron-making routes, moving away from traditional blast furnace methods.
Fortescue CEO Dino Otranto said: “This is a significant milestone for our Green Metal Project and another step towards producing commercial-scale green metal in Australia.
“For decades Australia has exported iron ore to the world. The next opportunity is to create more value from that ore by producing green metal here at home.”
The DRI smelting furnace is designed to produce high-quality iron units with lower emissions.
Metso stated that the furnace enables iron-making from ore reserves in the Pilbara that have previously been considered unsuitable for direct reduction due to higher gangue content.
The company’s technology, developed as part of its Outotec range, uses proprietary equipment to process blast furnace-grade iron ore and is intended to support decarbonisation efforts in the steel industry.
Metso minerals president Piia Karhu said: “We congratulate Fortescue on this significant step forward. The production of first hot metal at the Christmas Creek Green Metal Project demonstrates the role of Metso’s DRI smelting furnace technology in advancing lower-emission iron-making.
“The project will provide important learnings as Fortescue works towards developing a pathway for green iron production at scale using Pilbara ore. We are proud to support Fortescue in this pioneering work.”
Metso’s pilot furnace is intended to demonstrate both equipment and process features that could apply to industrial-scale operations.
It works in combination with direct reduction plants and is being tested alongside circular alternating current and direct current electric furnaces at the Metso Research Center in Pori, Finland.
Earlier this month, Metso signed an agreement with the Geological Survey of Finland to engineer and deliver process technology for GTK Mintec’s new pilot plant in Outokumpu, Finland.
https://www.mining-technology.com/news/fortescue-first-hot-metal-christmas-creek/
Previously, Axios reported that the US administration was willing to ease economic sanctions and release frozen funds from Iran. In return, Tehran would have to take concrete and clear actions related to its nuclear program.
According to AFP, on the social media platform Truth Social, President Trump criticized the Axios report and asserted that he had not made any concessions to Iran. The public outcry over the possibility of President Donald Trump lifting sanctions on Iran forced him to quickly issue a correction. He called the article "a false rumor" and demanded that the media outlet publicly retract the article.
President Trump's vehement denial came at the same time that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was meeting with Qatari negotiators in New York.
Although US and Iranian representatives met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Iran's state news agency IRNA confirmed that Tehran currently has no plans for further direct talks with Washington. Earlier, Trump publicly rejected Tehran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He later told Axios that he hoped talks could resume in the coming days.
The Strait of Hormuz – a strategic shipping lane that has played a crucial role in the conflict – is now under blockade. This narrow waterway is responsible for transporting approximately one-fifth of the world 's oil and liquefied natural gas. The disruption to shipping has caused serious ripple effects on the global energy market.
The prolonged lockdowns since the conflict began have driven fuel prices in the US skyrocketing. This increase in the cost of living is putting immense pressure on people's lives and directly impacting the political credibility of the current administration.
https://www.vietnam.vn/en/tong-thong-trump-bac-bo-moi-thong-tin-lien-quan-my-do-bo-trung-phat-iran
Potential shift towards new construction adds upside to longer-term outlook, S&P Global Energy analysis says
CALGARY, AB, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian oil sands production is expected to average a record 3.5 million barrels per day in 2026 – a 100,000 b/d (3%) increase from the previous year, according to the latest S&P Global Energy 10-year production outlook. Production is expected to reach 3.9 million b/d by the early 2030s.
Since 2001, when annual output was just 300,000 b/d, production has grown every year except for COVID-19-related impacts in 2020.
The bulk of 2026 production growth is expected to once again come from optimization of existing facilities. However, the potential for a renewed appetite for capacity additions via new construction projects is adding additional upside to the longer-term outlook, the analysis says.
Most of today's installed oil sands production capacity is the result of construction between 2009 to 2018, with construction of new facilities being rare since then.
"The Canadian oil sands has proven to be a resilient source of supply despite periods of low oil prices, regional price volatility and uncertainty over future Canadian energy and climate policy," said Kevin Birn, Chief Canadian Oil Markets Analyst, S&P Global Energy. "The question today is not whether the oil sands will continue to grow, but rather how much additional growth could come should new projects once again come forward."
Developments contributing to the sense of optimism include announced plans for expanded pipeline export capacity; the clarification, reduction and extension of carbon pricing to 2040; commitments to accelerate reviews for projects deemed in the national interest; and potential changes to fiscal terms for new oil sands projects.
Canadian energy production is also increasingly being seen as a source of national security and economic growth amid the deteriorating trade relationship between Canada and the United States over the past 18 months, the analysis says.
"The degree of alignment to drive upstream growth between the Canadian Federal and Provincial governments has not been seen in more than a decade," said Birn. "The fresh focus on eliminating uncertainties to accelerate investment could set the stage for a return to new construction and greater growth."
Nevertheless, new construction projects are more capital-intensive and require longer lead times, and important details remain to be determined.
The competitiveness of future projects, and the appetite from shareholders to investment will be critical determinants about what type of upside could emerge. The details of the final implementation agreement related to the Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding that is expected on November 15, 2026, between the governments of Alberta, Canada, and the oil sands industry will be telling, the analysis says.
https://nz.finance.yahoo.com/news/canadian-oil-sands-production-expected-140000115.html
For Immediate Release: September 29, 2026
Statement by Alex Walker, Energy Analytics Program Manager
Toronto | Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat – Today’s announcement of the final investment decision in LNG Canada Phase 2 is another example of what has become the hallmark of Prime Minister Carney’s “nation-building” agenda: taxpayer money going to foreign investors for a project that makes life worse for Canadians.
LNG Canada Phase 2 will double the capacity of a facility that is already violating its environmental permit requirements, including releasing record-breaking quantities of polluting, carcinogenic smoke into the community of Kitimat. In 2025, LNG Canada Phase 1 flared more polluting gas into the atmosphere than any other facility in the world. Doubling this problem before trying to fix it isn’t nation-building; it’s reckless.
The world doesn’t want more LNG. Countries, including Germany, are currently phasing out fossil fuels, including gas. Canada’s existing LNG customers in Asia are actively cancelling new LNG projects and instead building out affordable, secure renewable energy. Global LNG supply is rapidly expanding over the next few years, and even without accounting for output from LNG Canada Phase 2, experts anticipate a supply glut.
This project can move ahead only because Canadians are footing part of the bill. The government’s sweeping new super-deduction tax break hands massive subsidies to the entirely foreign owners of LNG Canada – Shell, PETRONAS, MidOcean, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corporation and KOGAS. Additionally, the crown-corporation Export Development Canada gave up to $700 million to MidOcean for LNG Canada in the last year alone.
This project is dangerous, won’t bring economic benefits to Canadians and may even drive up gas prices for Canadians. Methane is classified as a toxic substance and a very potent greenhouse gas. No amount of rebranding into ‘natural gas’ changes the environmental and economic harms it causes. The economic benefits are overhyped, and the harms are underreported.
Qatar has reportedly extended a force majeure affecting liquified natural gas shipments to Asia and Europe by another month as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continued to constrain energy flows.
What happened: In a statement on Monday, Italy’s Edison said that QatarEnergy would be unable to deliver LNG to it until early December. Separately, QatarEnergy told buyers in Bangladesh and Pakistan that cargo cancellations would continue into November, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, while at least one Indian LNG buyer was also told the measure would remain in place.
Al-Monitor has contacted QatarEnergy for comment.
The company first implemented a force majeure in early March, days after the US-Israel-Iran war started, following production halts at its Ras Laffan and Mesaieed facilities due to the regional conflict and Iranian strikes on the plants. QatarEnergy has extended it several times since the start of the war as attacks on commercial ships, including LNG tankers, continued in the Strait of Hormuz.
By Julianne Geiger - Sep 29, 2026, 1:20 PM CDT
The U.S. Department of Energy will offer another 40 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as gasoline and diesel prices remain elevated nearly seven months into the Iran war.
The barrels will be offered through an exchange, marking the final tranche of the 172 million barrels the United States pledged to a coordinated emergency release organized by the International Energy Agency.
The SPR ended August with 286.6 million barrels after another 3.1 million barrels left the reserve during the week ending Aug. 28. That left the reserve more than 445 million barrels below maximum capacity.
Commercial inventories were hardly flush. By Sept. 1, commercial crude stocks had fallen by more than 48 million barrels over the previous 20 weeks, even as emergency barrels continued moving out of the SPR.
Federal law restricts non-emergency drawdowns once SPR inventories fall below 252.4 million barrels. A 1981 Government Accountability Office report advised against releases below 250 million barrels except during a “very severe emergency.”
The reserve is expected to fall to its lowest level since 1982 once the latest release is completed.
Fuel prices remain the immediate problem. U.S. gasoline is still above $4 per gallon, while diesel has climbed above $6 per gallon amid tight middle-distillate supplies and disruptions tied to the Iran war.
At the start of September, distillate inventories were already 14% below the five-year average, while gasoline inventories were 6% below normal seasonal levels.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright also pressed European countries to make good on their own emergency-stock commitments, saying several IEA members had released only a fraction of what they pledged.
The 40 million barrels are not an outright sale. Companies receiving crude through the exchange must return oil later with additional barrels as interest. DOE has said the exchange program will ultimately return roughly 200 million barrels to the reserve.
Bids are due Oct. 6.
The exchange shifts crude into the near-term market, with participating companies obligated to return larger volumes later.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
Korea Zinc Chairman Choi Yun-beom said the company plans to expand the Onsan Smelter’s portfolio of metals, materials and byproducts from about 20 items currently to more than 30 over the next five years, reducing its reliance on the price of any single metal. Korea Zinc said the portfolio had grown from 12 items to about 20 over the past two decades, supported by the recovery, refining and commercialization of metals contained in smelter byproducts and waste.
Korea Zinc said higher prices for antimony and other critical minerals contributed additional earnings in 2025, while gold and silver recovered through advanced refining processes supported record results in the first half of 2026. For the second half of 2026 and 2027, the company is seeking further growth in zinc, copper, sulfuric acid and ultra-high-purity sulfuric acid for semiconductor applications. It is also advancing Project Crucible, a planned integrated U.S. smelter that Korea Zinc describes as a new growth pillar in the global critical-minerals supply chain.
China's refined copper production growth is expected to slow sharply in 2026 as smelters face tightening copper concentrate and scrap availability alongside weaker sulphuric acid prices, according to foreign media reports.
Wood Mackenzie and Zijin Tianfeng Futures expect China's refined copper output to increase by around 3–3.4% in 2026, compared with growth of 10.4% in 2025. Reuters said this would represent the slowest annual growth rate since at least 2000 based on its review of official production data. Refined copper output growth stood at approximately 4% year on year during January-August.
The slowdown is expected to become more pronounced in the fourth quarter as tighter scrap copper supply adds to the existing shortage of copper concentrate. Reuters reported that a tax crackdown is expected to reduce scrap availability, further limiting smelters' ability to substitute secondary raw materials for concentrate when feedstock conditions tighten.
Smelter economics have also come under pressure from lower sulphuric acid prices. Sulphuric acid, a major by-product of copper smelting, had previously helped offset extremely low copper concentrate treatment charges. According to Oilchem data cited by Reuters, Chinese sulphuric acid prices declined by around 11% during September.
Seven Chinese copper smelters are reportedly planning equipment maintenance lasting between 30 and 60 days during October and November. Analysts at Zhuochuang estimate that the planned maintenance could reduce refined copper supply by approximately 80,000 mt.
The concentrate shortage reflects a broader imbalance between rapidly expanding global smelting capacity and comparatively slower growth in mined copper supply. Recent temporary disruptions at major copper mines including Escondida, Las Bambas and El Teniente have added further pressure to concentrate availability.
Slower refined copper production growth in China could reduce refined copper supply growth during the fourth quarter, particularly if planned smelter maintenance coincides with continued constraints in concentrate and scrap availability. The simultaneous decline in sulphuric acid prices is also weakening an important source of smelter revenue at a time when treatment charges remain under pressure. Attention will therefore remain on concentrate availability, scrap supply conditions and the scale of planned smelter maintenance during October and November.
Nucor has lifted its consumer spot price for hot-rolled coils by $10 per short tonne week on week, according to a company letter to customers dated 28 September. The move, reported by GMK Center, places the new offer at $1,220 per tonne.
The spot price for the California Steel Industries joint venture also moved higher by $10 per short tonne, reaching $1,280 per tonne. Order lead times were unchanged at three to five weeks, the company indicated.
The latest increase extends a run of weekly adjustments. On 8 September the producer set a spot price of $1,190 per tonne for the product and has since added $10 per tonne each week.
Broader market readings point to firm domestic pricing. Steel Market Update estimates put the average US hot-rolled coil price at close to $1,300 per short tonne as at 22 September, with a persistent shortage in the spot market cited as background. Kallanish assessed domestically produced hot-rolled coil in the US at $1,210 to $1,220 per short tonne on 25 September, compared with a range of $825 to $865 per short tonne in the corresponding week of 2025.
Globally, the hot-rolled coil market showed mixed trends in September 2026. US prices rose steadily amid limited spot supply and longer lead times, European producers sought higher prices, and the expected seasonal upturn in China remained uncertain.
https://www.indexbox.io/blog/nucor-raises-hot-rolled-coil-spot-price-by-10-to-1220-per-short-tonne/
The first products are expected to be produced in 2030
US President Donald Trump has announced plans by Mesabi Metallics to build a steelworks in Iowa with an investment of $15 billion. This is reported by Reuters.
The new complex will be fully vertically integrated: iron ore from the new Mesabi mine in Nashwak, Minnesota, will be used to produce steel in Iowa. The first phase of the project envisages an annual output of 7.5 million tonnes of steel, with capacity subsequently increasing to 10 million tonnes. The White House has already described this facility as the largest steelworks in US history.
According to the White House, the project will create at least 1,750 permanent jobs, as well as up to 6,000 temporary jobs during the construction phase. The total economic impact of the first phase, covering the construction period and the first 10 years of operation, is expected to reach $95 billion. The first production is scheduled for 2030.
Mesabi is owned by the Indian conglomerate Essar Group, which has already invested over $2.5 billion in a mining operation in Minnesota. Previously, the US Export-Import Bank announced that it would provide $10 billion to finance the expansion of this mine.
The investment announcement was made during a fiercely contested election campaign in Iowa for Senate seats and the governorship. The project is intended to demonstrate the effectiveness of Trump’s protectionist policy, which is based on higher import duties.
Whilst the global steel market is suffering from overcapacity (particularly in China), trade barriers in the US are keeping domestic prices high, making large-scale construction projects economically viable. At the same time, tariffs are putting pressure on neighbouring markets: for instance, the Canadian company Cleveland-Cliffs has announced production cuts and the redundancy of hundreds of workers at its plant in Ontario precisely because of the impact of US tariffs.
As reported by GMK Center, the South Korean companies Hyundai Steel and POSCO have begun construction of a steelworks in the state of Louisiana (USA) at a cost of $5.8 billion. The annual capacity will be 2.7 million tonnes of hot-rolled, cold-rolled and galvanised steel, including 1.8 million tonnes of automotive steel sheets and 900,000 tonnes of general-purpose steel. Mass production is due to begin in 2029.
https://gmk.center/en/news/trump-has-announced-the-construction-of-a-15-billion-steelworks-in-iowa/
The Ibovespa edged lower to trade near 182,500 on Tuesday, weighed by losses in the energy and mining sectors.
Petrobras lost more than 1% amid a pullback in oil prices as US and Iranian officials continued separate discussions with mediators.
Vale shed over 1.5%, while CSN Mineração and Usiminas lost more than 3% each as iron ore prices fell.
Iron ore prices in China closed lower, pressured by increased port arrivals and persistently weak steel demand ahead of a national holiday.
CSN Mineração announced a temporary reduction in low-grade iron ore production due to higher freight costs and a challenging market environment.
Steelmakers also fell, with CSN slumping 8%.
On the data front, unemployment stood at 5.3% in the rolling quarter ended in August, unchanged from the previous quarter and matching expectations.
Meanwhile, an Atlas/Bloomberg poll confirmed a technical tie between President Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro in a second-round scenario for the October presidential election.
https://tradingeconomics.com/brazil/stock-market/news/587752
India Plans To Nearly Triple Steel Capacity To 600 Million Tonnes By 2047- Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik | AI Representational Image
India's new steel policy aims to increase steelmaking capacity to 600 million tonnes by 2047, providing a roadmap for the next two decades, Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik said on Tuesday.
The draft policy, reviewed by Reuters, is expected to be released in the public domain soon. It also proposes measures to reduce emissions from the sector and strengthen access to key raw materials such as iron ore and coking coal to meet anticipated demand.
The Union Ministry of Steel did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.
India was a net importer of finished steel between April and August, importing 3.5 million tonnes of the alloy, 29.5% more than a year earlier. China accounted for 31.8% of these imports, making it the largest exporter of finished steel to India during the period.
Raw materials, exports pose challenges
Availability of raw materials and exports remain major challenges for the steel sector, particularly as countries increase trade barriers, Poundrik told reporters on the sidelines of an event.
Indian steel prices are expected to rise further in the coming weeks as a post-monsoon revival in infrastructure and automotive demand tightens the market. Higher coking coal costs are also expected to increase production expenses for steel mills, executives and analysts told Reuters.
Policy targets lower emissions
The draft policy aims to reduce the sector's average carbon emission intensity to around 1.54 tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of crude steel by 2047, from the current 2.54 tonnes.
The target is aligned with India's goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, according to the draft document.
The Steel Ministry expects iron ore demand to reach 772 million tonnes and plans to secure access to high-grade reserves by pursuing overseas assets and joint ventures, the document said.
Government plans to diversify coking coal supply
Coking coal demand is expected to reach 214 million tonnes, according to the draft.
The government plans to diversify its sources through “strategic global outreach” and acquire overseas assets to strengthen supplies, the document said.