Industry reports
Forging our Future - 10 requirements to build an export-scale green iron industry in Western Australia
Year - 2024 Partners - AMWU (Western Australia), Australian Steel Institute, Conservation Council WA, Labour Environment Action Network, Labour Environmental Policy Centre
Western Australia is the world’s largest iron ore producer, mining more than 860 million tonnes of iron ore in 2023, equivalent to 39% of global supply. Iron ore is Australia’s single largest export:
it was worth $136bn in 2023 (20% of Australia’s exports by value; 33% of resource and energy commodity exports in 2023-24)
royalties from the industry account for 85% of WA’s royalty revenue and 25% of the WA government’s general revenue.
Iron ore mining, processing, and manufacturing into iron and steel products is extremely emissions intensive. Global steel-making emissions contribute 7-9% of total global emissions in any given year.
The world must urgently decarbonise and a net zero world will need to have almost completely decarbonised steel production. International steelmakers are already investing in new non-WA supplies of ore (as the bulk of exports from the Pilbara are not compatible with the predominant existing green steel technologies) - this is putting Australia’s largest export industry, in its current form, at risk of collapse.
The WA iron ore industry requires policy support and targeted investment by the Commonwealth and WA governments to ensure Australia becomes the world’s top green iron producer in the fast-arriving low-emissions economy.
Forging Our Future shows how WA can produce 122 million tonnes of green iron per year by 2040 to deliver:
$380bn in GDP
$350bn in real income
$167bn in Commonwealth and WA state taxation
a new WA export industry worth $340.2bn ($76bn in exports in 2040)
24,000 ongoing jobs in WA, with an additional 150,000 construction jobs created over 14 years
These actions will simultaneously drive down emissions from Australia’s and our region’s steel industry - with a reduction of 274 MtCO2-e of emissions per annum in 2040, equivalent to half of Australia’s annual national emissions.
Governments alongside industry and workers can apply the lessons of how rapid industrialisation has been achieved in the past. The report sets out requirements needed to build a green iron industry in WA quickly:
Build industry - 6 requirements to achieve scale quickly and responsibly
Work for workers - 2 requirements to ensure secure jobs and a say for workers
Ensure justice – 2 requirements to guarantee benefits are shared fairly.
Turning down the Gas - Supporting our manufacturing sector to cut gas costs, secure jobs and build a thriving zero-emissions future
Year - 2024 Partners - Lock the Gate and Australian Manufacturers Workers Union
This report focuses on fossil gas use by industry and manufacturers on the East Coast of Australia and the potential to accelerate gas phase-out in industrial settings. It shows that significant reductions in gas use (216 PJ) can be achieved by 2035 which will avoid shortages, cut costs, provide job security for the nation’s 900,000 manufacturing workers and reduce emissions.
Many industries within Australia’s manufacturing sector today utilise gas as either a direct input or energy source during production. With surging gas prices and threats of domestic shortages, there is an urgent need to support the manufacturing sector to deploy decarbonisation technology at speed and scale to ensure its ongoing viability/future competitiveness.
This report shows that the majority of industrial gas use (90%) on the East Coast can be replaced with proven and commercially available technology today. Industries can be grouped into three broad categories based on whether their gas using processes:
can be electrified now: 60% (244 PJ) of manufacturing gas use is in processes that can be electrified, including the LNG sector
can be regassed with hydrogen: this includes approximately 30% (123 PJ) of industrial gas use for processes like steel making and ammonia production.
are harder (but not impossible) to abate: industries where fossil gas use can be reduced but will require more technology research and innovation to completely phase out.
A comprehensive program and supportive policy environment is required to help our existing manufacturers to move from gas to alternative fuel sources. Doing so will enable mass deployment and cost reductions of these commercially available technologies, and ensure the availability of gas for the 10% of industrial use which is genuinely harder to abate.
The report shows how Australia can support this transition and in doing so:
Reduce wholesale gas expenses by the East Coast manufacturing sector by at least $2.5 bn
Lower gas demand in 2035 by 216 PJ (Manufacturing by 112 PJ; Commercial buildings by 25 PJ; LNG onshore gas use by 79 PJ)
Mitigate risk of future domestic gas shortfalls
Reduce emissions by 11.1 MTCO2-e per annum by 2035
Safeguard hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs during the transition
Support manufacturers to reduce exposure to recurrent gas price hikes which impact competitiveness and increase costs to end consumers.