The company said the acquisition will allow it to deliver solutions which assist in the industry’s transition to green iron- and steelmaking which are adaptable to various site conditions, ore and energy profiles, or regulations. Customers will now have a single-source partner for end-to-end solutions, it added.  

“As a driving force in decarbonization, SMS and our new team members from Metso merge their research, process expertise and service business. We accelerate scalable, cost-effective and sustainable processes for iron and steelmaking,” said Thomas Hansmann, chief technology officer of SMS group. 

The sale includes Metso's sintering and travelling grate and straight grate pelletizing business units.

SMS group said it will use Metso’s Circored™ technology to create a hydrogen-based reduction process for green ironmaking. Combining fluidized-bed reduction from Circored with SMS group’s open bath furnace (OBF) technology will form a two-stage reduction process. This Circored-OBF route accepts iron ore fines with lower-Fe concentration, thus reducing preparation needs while increasing feedstock flexibility and cost advantages.