SMS group has strengthened its position as a full-line supplier for sustainable metallurgy by acquiring selected business units and technologies from Metso across Germany, India, China, and Australia. The move enhances SMS group’s ability to deliver tailored, low-emission iron and steelmaking solutions adaptable to different site conditions, ore qualities, energy profiles, and regulatory requirements.
The acquisition broadens SMS group’s upstream process offering through the integration of agglomeration technologies, including travelling grate pelletizing, sintering, and circulating fluid bed (CFB) calcination. These technologies are critical for supplying feedstock to shaft-furnace direct-reduction routes as well as conventional ironmaking, enabling customers to source end-to-end solutions, from raw material preparation to finished steel production, from a single provider.
SMS group is also leveraging Metso’s Circored technology to develop a hydrogen-based direct reduction route for green ironmaking. By combining fluidized-bed reduction with SMS group’s Open Bath Furnace technology, the two-stage process allows the use of lower-grade iron ore fines, reducing preprocessing needs, improving feedstock flexibility, and lowering overall costs compared with conventional direct-reduction plants.
In parallel, SMS group and the integrated Metso teams will offer a comprehensive service portfolio covering pelletizing, sintering, calcination, and primary metallurgy. Backed by a global service network, the combined offering includes field services, maintenance, repairs, and plant modernization, supporting optimized uptime and full lifecycle performance.
