HBI plant with capacity of 2.5 million tons per year launched in Malaysia

The $7.3 billion project is being implemented in three phases, with the prospect of steelmaking

ESteel Enterprise Sabah has officially launched the first phase of a large-scale hot briquetted iron (HBI) project in Sabah, eastern Malaysia, with a capacity of 2.5 million tons per year. This is reported by Kallanish.

This “green” metallurgical project is being implemented on the territory of the Oil and Gas Industrial Park in Sipitang. Its cost is 31 billion Malaysian ringgit (approximately $7.3 billion).

The launch ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Sabah Chief Minister Haji Noor.

The project is being implemented in three phases. The first involves the production of hot briquetted iron using natural gas. The next two phases will include additional direct reduced iron (DRI) facilities with a similar capacity of 2.5 million tonnes per annum, as well as the deployment of steelmaking and rolling facilities.

Initially, the first phase was scheduled to start operating in the fourth quarter of 2023, with completion in late 2025. However, the project was delayed due to technical assessments and negotiations over natural gas supplies. In addition, there was a need for additional approvals at the federal government level, said Sabah’s Minister of Industrial Development, Fun Jin Zhe.

MAEGMA Minerals has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with engineering company Primetals Technologies to set up a 2 million tonnes per annum hot briquetted iron (HBI) plant in Perak, Malaysia. The plant is scheduled to start operating in 2029.