Straight answers.

Cameroon Steel is a Cameroonian company developing a steel complex at Mboro, in the Kribi industrial-port zone. Its target design capacity is 1 million tonnes a year, built in phases. The planned first phase covers reinforcing bar and wire rod, made in an electric melt shop and rolling mill.

Sources: Cameroon Tribune, « Industrialisation : la voie royale de l’émergence », 2 Jan 2025 · Cameroon Steel reference configuration RC-1 (edition 10 Oct 2026): planning assumption, subject to engineering and permits

Company and projectValue chain

At Mboro, within the Kribi industrial-port zone, in the South Region. The site benefits from the deep-water port, the 225 kV power line under construction and planned road and rail corridors. Maps on this site show an indicative location: the exact plot boundaries are not published at this stage.

Source: Investir au Cameroun, 20 Feb 2026 and 4 Mar 2026

Kribi siteLogistics simulator

No. The project is in development. The foundation stone was laid on 30 December 2024. The next steps are front-end engineering, permits and financing; the environmental and social impact assessment is planned, with terms of reference to be submitted to MINEPDED in 2027 and a certificate of environmental compliance targeted for late 2028. Phase 1 works would begin from the first quarter of 2029, with first heat targeted for the second half of 2030 and ramp-up in 2031. The capacities, jobs and schedules shown on this site are targets or indicative values, clearly labelled as such.

Source: Cameroon Tribune, « Kribi : le Premier ministre, chef du gouvernement est là », 30 Dec 2024

Company and projectProject timeline

Because electric steel needs a deep-water quay to receive scrap and reduced iron, strong power supply, serviced industrial land and access to markets. The Port of Kribi handled 12.7 million tonnes in 2025, the 225 kV line is to supply 100 MW and later 330 to 400 MW, and the industrial zone includes a steel cluster.

Sources: EcoMatin, « Au Cameroun, le port de Kribi revendique la place de premier terminal à conteneurs », 22 Apr 2026 (PAK figures) · Port Autonome de Kribi, communiqués of 6 Aug 2025 and 19 Aug 2026 (site visit by the Minister of Water and Energy)

Kribi siteWP02 · Kribi as a steel platformLogistics simulator

The 2023 Mining Code (art. 40(4)) provides that at least 15% of mine output be destined for local processing. For iron, this can feed a national steel chain, provided implementing texts set out the grade, price and timing of deliveries.

Source: Loi n° 2023/014 du 19 décembre 2023 portant Code minier, art. 40(4)

Value chainWP01 · From ore to steel

Completed milestones are dated and sourced; the next steps are targets in the reference schedule, which may move with permits, engineering, the market and financing. The Project timeline tool separates what is verified, what third parties have planned and what Cameroon Steel is targeting.

Project timelineNews

The planned first phase makes reinforcing bar and wire rod. Later phases under consideration add angles, channels and flats, then H-beams and heavy sections, which Cameroon currently imports in full. The order and timing of these phases will depend on the market and on financing.

Source: Cameroon Steel reference configuration RC-1 (edition 10 Oct 2026): planning assumption, subject to engineering and permits

ProductsRebar estimator

The target design capacity is 1 million tonnes a year, reached in phases. The first phase is planned at about 0.3 million tonnes a year of finished products. These are planning targets, to be confirmed by engineering and permits.

Sources: Cameroon Tribune, « Industrialisation : la voie royale de l’émergence », 2 Jan 2025 · Cameroon Steel reference configuration RC-1 (edition 10 Oct 2026): planning assumption, subject to engineering and permits

Company and projectValue-chain explorer

The electric furnace melts scrap and reduced iron instead of smelting ore with coke. It needs less capital than a blast furnace, can be built in modules, accepts varied charges and emits far less CO₂, especially on a hydro-dominated grid such as Cameroon’s.

Sources: worldsteel, Sustainability Indicators 2025 (2024 data) · ARSEL, Rapport d’activités 2025, 7 Sep 2026

TechnologyWP03 · Choosing the routeSteel route lab

At first, from local and imported scrap and imported reduced iron. In the longer term, the aim is to turn Cameroonian ore into reduced iron, once concentrate quality, gas supply and scale allow. Its sister company, Cameroon Mining Company, holds the Mbalam exploitation permit.

Sources: UN Comtrade, Cameroon (reporter 120), HS 7207, 2023 · Cameroon Tribune, 30 Dec 2024 (Cameroon Mining Company, Mbalam exploitation permit)

Value chainWP01 · From ore to steel

That is one of its aims. In 2025 Cameroon imported 412,049 tonnes of iron and steel; in 2023 billets were the largest steel import. Making billets and sections at home can replace part of those purchases, provided output is competitive at border prices.

Sources: INS Cameroun, Évolution du commerce extérieur en 2025 (version provisoire), Feb 2026 · UN Comtrade, Cameroon (reporter 120), HS 7207, 2023

Import-substitution simulatorWP04 · Steel demand

The aim is to make reinforcing steel that meets its declared grade, for example B500 under EN 10080 and BS 4449, with laboratory testing, certificates for each heat and markings that trace every bar to the building site. This objective includes certification by an independent third party.

Source: EN 10080; BS 4449:2005+A3:2016

ProductsWP10 · Quality steel

An electric steelworks must control furnace dust and fumes, noise, cooling water, slag and hazardous dust, as well as traffic. An environmental and social impact assessment will be conducted under Cameroonian law and aligned with the IFC Performance Standards. It is planned: terms of reference submitted to MINEPDED in 2027, a two-season field baseline in 2027–2028, public hearings targeted for the third quarter of 2028 and the certificate of environmental compliance targeted for the fourth quarter of 2028. No works will begin before that certificate.

CommitmentsClimate and environmentWP07 · Building responsibly

On Cameroon’s grid, the indicative intensity of the steelworks would be about 0.58 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of steel including upstream imported reduced iron, against a global average of 2.34 tonnes for the blast-furnace route. Scopes 1 and 2 alone give about 0.32 tonnes in Phase 1 (about 0.33 tonnes at full build-out), a figure that does not compare with route averages. This is a planning calculation, to be replaced by verified measurements in operation.

Sources: Cameroon Steel reference configuration RC-1: electricity per tonne (IFC ranges for the furnace and rolling; RC-1 assumptions for induction heating and auxiliaries) × Cameroon grid factor 226 gCO₂/kWh (Ember, 2024, when hydropower supplied about 72%; ARSEL reports about 90% for 2025: the 2024 factor is kept as the prudent value); direct emissions and upstream of imported DRI at 0.70 t CO₂ per tonne of DRI (gas-based shaft furnace) are RC-1 assumptions · worldsteel, Sustainability Indicators 2025 (2024 data)

Climate and environmentCarbon and CBAM calculatorWP06 · Lower-carbon steel

Through advance information, the public hearings of the impact assessment, meetings with neighbours, traditional authorities and associations, including the region’s Indigenous communities, and an accessible, free grievance mechanism. The Communities page sets out these commitments; the Commitments page shows the status of each one (in place, in preparation or objective).

CommunitiesContact

Preliminary studies plan about 500 direct jobs in the first phase, plus about 1,000 indirect jobs, in addition to construction jobs. These are planning estimates, to be refined with detailed engineering.

Source: Cameroon Steel, planning estimate (2024), to be confirmed

CareersJobs impact

Recruitment for operations will follow the project’s progress. The Careers page presents the planned trades and the training that leads to them in Cameroon, and the pathfinder tool helps you choose a route. You can already register your interest through the contact form, under “Careers and internships”.

CareersCareers pathfinderContact

Yes. The Suppliers page lists the purchasing categories expected for construction and operation, from civil works to site services. Introduce your company through the contact form, under “Suppliers and contractors”; preference will go to capabilities available in Cameroon where they meet quality and safety requirements.

SuppliersContact

China produces more than half of the world’s crude steel and is among the leading suppliers of steelmaking equipment and engineering: engineers, equipment makers and potential partners should be able to read about the project in their own language. Cameroon Steel does not publish the identity or terms of its technical and commercial partners while engineering and procurement are under way; announcements will be made on the News page.

Source: worldsteel, World Steel in Figures 2026 (China 960.8 Mt of 1,849.4 Mt in 2025)

PartnersContact

Financing is being structured, phase by phase. Cameroon Steel does not publish investment amounts or commercial terms at this stage. Interested institutions and financial partners can get in touch through the Partners page.

Partners

Ten sourced studies on the value chain, the Kribi site, technology routes, the market, energy, climate, environment and society, skills, economics and quality. The full text is published in English and French, chapter by chapter on the web and as PDF. The Chinese edition is an executive edition: it summarises each chapter on the web, gives the full English text beside it, and its PDF is a summary in Chinese.

Library

Every figure on the site carries one of these labels. Sourced: read from a published source. Derived: obtained by an explicit calculation from sourced data. Assumption: a planning value adopted by Cameroon Steel, with its range. Illustrative: a scenario or order of magnitude, not a forecast. Click a figure’s label to see its source.

Sources

No. Images and videos depicting facilities, places or people are generated visualisations, marked “Visualisation”. They illustrate processes or settings; they do not show the actual site or plant.

Legal notice

Through the form on the Contact page, choosing the subject of your enquiry. Journalists will find the press kit and visuals on the Media page.

ContactMedia