A cross-industry consortium consisting of steelmakers ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, JSW Steel and Hyundai Steel, alongside BHP, Chevron Australia New Energies, Mitsui and shipping group K Line, has identified five candidates CCUS hubs from more than 3,000 potential sites across the Asia-Pacific.
The pre-feasibility study was launched in August 2025 and is described by the consortium as the first independent industry-led CCUS hub study of its kind in Asia. It is currently examining how shared infrastructure could support emissions reduction in hard-to-abate sectors, particularly steelmaking. The shortlisted hubs are in India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, and will now move into a more detailed phase of engineering and commercial analysis.
The study is focused on the full CCUS value chain that extends from capture and aggregation through to transport and long-term storage. Shipping will play a central role in connecting emission sources with suitable storage sites, especially where cross-border transport is required.
Michitomo Iwashita, senior managing corporate officer at K Line, said: ‘We believe that CCUS will play a vital role in realizing a carbon neutral society in the future. In particular, for hard to abate sectors such as the steel industry, CCUS represents an indispensable solution for achieving decarbonization.’
K Line will, said, ‘actively contribute, from the perspective of maritime transportation, to the establishment of a sustainable CO2 value chain.’
Phase 1 findings highlight both the technical potential and the structural barriers to large-scale deployment. The five hubs were selected for their ability to support the full value chain, including storage performance and market conditions. The study notes that ‘strong policy support, targeted incentives, and clear regulatory frameworks are critical to making CCUS commercially viable’, which evidences the dependence of early projects on strong governmental support.
Dr Ben Ellis, vice president marketing sustainability at BHP, noted that ‘with more than 1 billion tonnes of production a year in Asia coming from blast furnace capacity that is relatively early in its production life, it’s important for industry to progress technologies to lower the emissions intensity of existing steelmaking assets’.
Phase 2 will focus on refining the business case for each hub, including engineering design, CO2 volume forecasts and commercial structures, as well as addressing regulatory gaps and developing implementation roadmaps.
