MMi Daily Iron Ore Report (February 21)

JFE Steel successfully produced approximately one metric ton of reduced iron using 100% green hydrogen at a 15 kg/hour pilot plant in its East Japan Works. The trial, backed by Japan's NEDO Green Innovation Fund, marks a critical technical milestone for the country's decarbonization efforts by proving that iron ore can be stably reduced without fossil fuels in preparation for commercial direct hydrogen reduction implementation.

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported that US domestic raw steel production for the week ending August 1 increased slightly by 0.6% to 1.870 million net tons. The capacity utilization rate hit 81.0%, bringing the year-to-date output to 55.510 million net tons, which represents a 5.8% increase compared to the same period in the previous year.

Ferrexpo announced a temporary suspension of its iron ore production operations in Ukraine due to ongoing threats to Black Sea shipping lanes and the need to preserve working capital. The halt strands nearly 189,000 tonnes of high-grade pellets—including 90,000 tonnes of premium direct-reduction material—removing a key supplier of 1.56 million tonnes (first-half 2026 output) from the European market until new financing is secured.