Full Title: Brazil’s Green Iron Opportunity
Author(s): Rachel Wilmoth, Ariane DesRosiers, Thanh Ha, and Chathurika Gamage
Publisher(s): Rocky Mountain Institute
Publication Date: June 26, 2025
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Description (excerpt):
As global demand for lower-emissions products rises, Brazil is uniquely positioned to thrive in the renewable hydrogen and green iron and steel transformation, thanks to its natural resources. This Insight Brief explores Brazil’s cost-competitive advantage in producing green iron for steelmaking via hydrogen-based direct reduction (H2-DRI), the leading large-scale, commercially viable technology for eliminating all iron production emissions. With renewable hydrogen constituting up to 50% of the final cost of steel made from H2-DRI, Brazil’s abundant and grid-connected renewable energy resources enable globally cost-competitive production, with costs up to 65% cheaper than other steelmaking countries.
Brazil’s emerging landscape of renewable hydrogen, ammonia, and iron projects shows promising momentum, and there is a window of opportunity for Brazil to seize green iron export market share. This brief illustrates the win-wins of a green iron export agenda: increasing domestic jobs and economic growth in Brazil while lowering global steel emissions and competing with fossil-based alternatives in regions with emissions-differentiated markets and carbon costs. The brief also outlines the needs, opportunities, and necessary next steps from policymakers and stakeholders across the value chain to make the green iron industry a reality in Brazil.