In early April 2025, the First Workshop for the BHP – China Baowu – Monash University Industry Knowledge Centre for Low Carbon Metallurgy (LCM) was successfully held in Suzhou, China, attended by around 100 representatives from the Chinese and overseas industry and academia.

The LCM Knowledge Centre was launched in 2023 (BHP China Baowu and Monash University launch an Industry Knowledge Centre) with the aim of accelerating the deployment of technologies capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from steel production through scientific research, pilots and plant-scale trials. The 2024 Program has selected 12 projects for sponsorship, with a total budget of around US$2.4M, across the Blast Furnace Steelmaking Route, Direct Reduction / Electric Furnace Route and Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), and involving researchers from over 15 research institutes and universities in China and Australia. 

During the two-day workshop, the 12 projects presented their research scope and expected outcomes and, most importantly, how the research is intended to support progress in steelmaking decarbonisation. And industry representatives from leading steel mills, who are also BHP’s valued customers, shared their decarbonisation strategy and actions, providing valuable insights on industry needs to the researchers. 

Collaboration across the value chain is required to support progress towards decarbonisation of the hard-to-abate steel industry, and the BHP-China Baowu climate change partnership that officially began in 2020 is a great example. The LCM Knowledge Centre is part of the BHP-China Baowu partnership. It is not just a platform to provide R&D support but also, importantly, to enhance knowledge sharing and talent development by linking academia and industry together to better support the steel industry progress decarbonisation.

Group photo for Knowledge Centre 1st Workshop