Australia Told to Lock In Asian Green Iron Deals
A report by WWF-Australia and Deloitte warns that a lack of government trade diplomacy could cause the country to lose its green siteel lead to Middle Eastern rivals.
Harry Taruva 
Sydney - Australia risks squandering a potential 100 billion Australian dollar (US$71.8 billion) green iron export boom to international rivals unless federal Ministers urgently deploy green trade statecraft to lock in long-term buyers in Asia.
A new economic assessment compiled by Deloitte Access Economics for World Wide Fund-Australia reveals that while the nation has eight advanced green iron projects ready for development and a further 10 megatonnes of annual production capacity in the pipeline, not a single commercial project has reached a final investment decision due to a lack of guaranteed buyers.
In contrast, competing industrial hubs in the Middle East have already begun securing binding, multi-year offtake contracts with major Asian steelmakers.
The report urges the Federal Government to establish direct bilateral agreements with Japan, South Korea and China, the primary consumers of traditional Australian iron or to form dedicated "green trade corridors."
As manufacturing green iron utilises renewable hydrogen instead of coking coal, experts say it represents one of the most vital pathways to lowering global industrial carbon emissions.
Economists estimate that securing the market would provide an annual export dividend worth between AU$96billion (US$68.9 billion) and AU$174billion (US$124.9 billion), creating thousands of high-skilled manufacturing jobs in regional Australia.
"Australia has the iron ore, renewable energy resources and deep trade ties to be a global green iron leader, but without clear buyers, projects cannot secure financing," Senior Manager for Low Carbon Futures at WWF-Australia, Monica Richter says.
"The Australian Government will need to work with its counterparts in Asia to align supply, demand and policy in ways that create mutually beneficial trade corridors," she said.
The report outlines a reciprocal trade model where Australia would ship raw green iron to Asian hubs, which would then process it into green steel to export back to Australia in finished goods like electric vehicles and wind turbine infrastructure.
Conservation and trade experts are calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to expand his recent regional energy partnership diplomatic push to include specific demand-side subsidies and time-limited offtake guarantees for the iron sector.
