Glencore Plc, the Swiss mining and commodity buying and selling large led by South African govt Gary Nagle, has agreed to purchase at the very least 500,000 tons a 12 months of sizzling briquetted iron from a deliberate plant in Oman, locking in long-term provide of a lower-carbon steelmaking enter from 2030.
The offtake settlement with Meranti Inexperienced Metal permits Glencore to buy between 500,000 and 1.25 million tons yearly, in line with the challenge’s developer. Meranti Chief Government Officer Sebastian Langendorf mentioned about two-thirds of the plant’s output is predicted to go to European steelmakers in search of to chop emissions of their provide chains.
Meranti indicators HBI offtake, inexperienced metal push
Meranti has already signed separate offtake offers with INTERFER International Metal Buying and selling and INTERFER Austria. Thyssenkrupp Supplies Companies can also be in discussions to safe volumes from the challenge, the corporate mentioned, underscoring rising demand for various iron feedstock as metal producers face tighter local weather targets.
Scorching briquetted iron is utilized in electrical arc furnaces and is seen as a cleaner substitute for conventional blast furnace inputs when produced with lower-carbon power. Meranti plans to depend on a mixture of pure gasoline and inexperienced hydrogen, inserting the challenge amongst a rising wave of inexperienced metal initiatives within the Center East.
Technique beneath Gary Nagle
Below Nagle, Glencore has continued to run one of many world’s largest commodity buying and selling and mining companies whereas sharpening its concentrate on supplies linked to the power transition. The corporate is a serious provider of copper, nickel and cobalt, metals broadly utilized in electrical automobiles, batteries and renewable power methods.
In December 2025, Glencore agreed to acquire a majority stake in Dutch fuel company FincoEnergies, a transfer geared toward increasing its publicity to low-carbon and renewable fuels. The group has additionally held talks in latest weeks a few possible combination with Rio Tinto.
Such a deal, if accomplished, would create a mining firm valued at greater than $260 billion, one of many largest ever within the sector. Any merger would mirror mounting stress on miners to scale up manufacturing of metals vital to electrification whereas managing prices and capital self-discipline.
Center East position in inexperienced metal
Meranti’s Oman challenge highlights the area’s ambition to play a bigger position in cleaner industrial provide chains. Entry to power, infrastructure and export routes has helped place the Center East as a possible hub for lower-carbon metal inputs, as international producers look past conventional sources to satisfy local weather and provide wants.
