MAEGMA Minerals and Primetals to build HBI plant in Malaysia

MAEGMA Minerals, part of the Malaysian industrial conglomerate Melewar Group, has signed a memorandum of understanding with engineering company Primetals Technologies to establish a 2 million tonnes per annum hot briquetted iron (HBI) plant in Perak, Malaysia. This is stated in the message of Primetals.

As noted, the new plant, built in collaboration with Midrex Technologies, will allow MAEGMA to meet the growing demand for high quality commercial HBI in Southeast Asia. The plant is scheduled to start operating in 2029.

The MIDREX Flex technology is designed to operate with various ratios of natural gas and hydrogen, including up to 100% hydrogen. Initially, the plant will operate on a mixture of the two, which will reduce the carbon footprint by more than 50% compared to traditional blast furnace production.

The plant will be equipped with hydrogen-ready equipment and pipelines, such as three-stage process gas compressors.

Primetals Technologies will also provide a complete basic automation system and advanced process optimization system, as well as additional digitalization solutions.

“The industry is increasingly transitioning to hydrogen, but energy prices remain a challenge. Under these conditions, the flexibility of the MIDREX Flex plant is a major advantage for MAEGMA Minerals,” said Andreas Viehboeck, Executive Vice President and Head of the Global Upstream Business Unit at Primetals Technologies.

According to him, this technology allows MAEGMA to scale up its hydrogen use based on market conditions while significantly reducing carbon emissions compared to traditional methods.

The plant will be powered by local natural gas and green hydrogen produced by autonomous renewable energy sources and a planned solar park. In addition, raw materials will be supplied by a leading global mining company operating near the MAEGMA site, which will significantly reduce transportation costs.

Tosyali SULB, a joint venture between Turkish steelmaker Tosyali Holding and Libya’s United Steel Company for Iron and Steel (SULB), announced that it has placed an order with Midrex, a developer of direct reduced iron technology, and Germany’s SMS Group for the first phase of its DRI construction plan in Libya.