A consortium comprising BHP, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, JSW Steel and Hyundai Steel has identified five potential CCUS hubs across Asia-Pacific following an assessment of more than 3,000 storage locations, as part of a prefeasibility study launched in August 2025.
The shortlisted hubs are located in India (two sites), Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, and were selected based on their potential across the full CCUS value chain, including carbon capture, aggregation, transport, utilization, storage, and overall commercial and policy conditions. The sites include both onshore and offshore storage options and are intended to represent a range of technical and commercial characteristics to support pathway development.
The study focuses on decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors, particularly steel, where existing blast furnace capacity in Asia remains relatively young. BHP noted that technologies such as CCUS will be important to reduce emissions from current assets while alternative steelmaking routes continue to develop.
The consortium also includes value chain participants such as Chevron and Mitsui, and has recently expanded with the addition of “K” LINE, Kobe Steel and LETA to strengthen capabilities in CO2 shipping, steelmaking technologies and low-emissions solutions.
Findings from the initial phase indicate that policy support, targeted incentives and clear regulatory frameworks will be critical to enable commercial deployment of CCUS. The next phase will involve detailed engineering and commercial analysis of the five hubs, including development of implementation pathways, CO2 volume forecasts and business case assessments.
The study is being delivered with support from Hatch and other technical partners and aims to advance scalable CCUS solutions through shared infrastructure, including pipeline and shipping networks, to support emissions reduction across the steel value chain and other industrial sectors.