Contact

Language

The project

Work with us

Go deeper

Reading comfort

Text size

Language

From mineral resource to industrial value

Site map

Every page, at a glance.

The project, the audiences, the library and its chapters, the tools and the news. Every page exists in French, English and Chinese.

204 pages in this language

The project

Work with us

Go deeper

Information

White papers and chapters

  1. WP01From ore to steel: Cameroon’s missing link is ironmaking, not rolling
    1. Summary Executive summary
    2. Chapter 1 The gap is upstream: Cameroon rolls steel but makes no iron
    3. Chapter 2 Cameroon’s ore is large enough; its grade decides the route
    4. Chapter 3 Cameroon imports iron units and flat steel, not rebar
    5. Chapter 4 Successful producers matched ironmaking to their gas, their ore and their market
    6. Chapter 5 Policy now requires local transformation; it does not yet make it bankable
    7. Chapter 6 A phased chain: melt first, then sections, then iron from Cameroonian ore
    8. Chapter 7 Kribi is the hinge: where ore, gas, power and deep water meet
    9. Chapter 8 Ironmaking is the prize; the melt shop is the door to it
    10. Chapter 9 Sixteen risks, four critical, and most of them concern iron units and energy
    11. Chapter 10 Recommendations: make the 15% rule produce iron
    12. Chapter 11 Evidence gaps: what is not yet known and how it will be resolved
    13. Annex A Method, assumptions and conventions
    14. Annex B Glossary and abbreviations
    15. Annex C Sources
    16. Annex D Data tables
  2. WP02Kribi can become Central Africa’s steel platform if infrastructure keeps pace
    1. Summary Executive summary: Kribi has what heavy industry cannot build for itself; the next two years decide the rest
    2. Chapter 1 Location fixes a steel mill’s costs before the first heat
    3. Chapter 2 The Port of Kribi gives Central Africa its deepest quay, and it is filling fast
    4. Chapter 3 A dedicated zone company now holds Kribi’s 4,000 ha, and steel is one of its named clusters
    5. Chapter 4 The 225 kV link makes heavy industry possible at Kribi; a second stage makes a cluster possible
    6. Chapter 5 Water is plentiful at Kribi; treatment, wastewater and hazardous waste are the real utility gaps
    7. Chapter 6 Kribi reaches six cities, three of them capitals, within 300 km; rail would make it the region’s steel hinge
    8. Chapter 7 A steel anchor turns Kribi’s industrial zone into a cluster that feeds itself
    9. Chapter 8 Successful port-industrial zones built infrastructure ahead of demand and organised around anchors
    10. Chapter 9 The risk at Kribi is sequence: each step must arrive before the industry that depends on it
    11. Chapter 10 A three-step roadmap can make Kribi a steel and metals platform by 2040
    12. Chapter 11 Twelve facts would change this assessment; most can be settled within a year
    13. Annex A Method, assumptions and calculations
    14. Annex B Glossary and abbreviations
    15. Annex C Sources
    16. Annex D Data tables
  3. WP03Electric steelmaking is the right route for Central Africa
    1. Summary Executive summary: start with the furnace that accepts any iron
    2. Chapter 1 How steel is made: two ways to make iron, two ways to make steel
    3. Chapter 2 The routes compared: electric routes win on carbon, scale and speed
    4. Chapter 3 Metallics: Cameroon is short of iron units, not of rolling capacity
    5. Chapter 4 Direct reduction and ore quality: Cameroonian iron needs a concentrator and a pellet plant first
    6. Chapter 5 The EAF melt shop: one furnace of the 40 t class can carry most of Phase 1 if the power system is designed with it
    7. Chapter 6 Rolling long products: hot billets and induction heating make Phase 1 an all-electric line
    8. Chapter 7 Product quality for tropical construction: ductile, certified rebar matters more than strength alone
    9. Chapter 8 Digitalisation and automation: control systems are part of the process, not an add-on
    10. Chapter 9 The phased pathway applied: how RC-1 reaches 1 Mtpa in four steps
    11. Chapter 10 Technology risks and decision criteria: retire the big risks before each commitment
    12. Chapter 11 Evidence gaps: what is not yet known, and how it will be resolved
    13. Annex A Method, assumptions and derivations
    14. Annex B Glossary
    15. Annex C Sources
    16. Annex D Data tables
  4. WP04Cameroon’s steel gap lies in iron units, not in rebar
    1. Summary Executive summary: the gap is upstream
    2. Chapter 1 A world long in steel is sending its surplus to markets without defences
    3. Chapter 2 Africa is the one region where steel demand is rising fast, and imports fill most of it
    4. Chapter 3 Construction, infrastructure and urban growth will lift Cameroon’s steel demand
    5. Chapter 4 Cameroon imports iron units and flat steel, not reinforcing bar
    6. Chapter 5 Cameroon’s mills can roll more than the market needs but cannot source enough iron
    7. Chapter 6 CEMAC adds a regional market of half a billion dollars, but neighbours are building their own mills
    8. Chapter 7 Demand could reach 0.7 to 1.2 Mt by 2040, and in every scenario the iron-unit gap widens
    9. Chapter 8 Prices reward re-rolling today; a new producer must win on the cost of iron, not on the rebar price
    10. Chapter 9 A new producer adds most value by supplying iron units, sections and certified quality
    11. Chapter 10 Policy should move protection from finished bars to quality, iron units and fair trade
    12. Chapter 11 What we do not yet know, and how it will be resolved
    13. Annex A Method, assumptions and conventions
    14. Annex B Glossary and abbreviations
    15. Annex C Sources
    16. Annex D Data tables
  5. WP05Cameroon’s hydro grid can power low-carbon steel if large users get firm supply, clear tariffs and gas
    1. Summary Executive summary: the grid is an asset, but heavy industry needs firm supply, a tariff and gas
    2. Chapter 1 Energy decides the cost and the carbon of electric steel
    3. Chapter 2 Cameroon has the capacity on paper, but not yet firm supply where industry needs it
    4. Chapter 3 Large users have no published tariff, so their price depends on negotiation rather than rules
    5. Chapter 4 An arc furnace needs a strong connection and its own compensation, or it disturbs everyone else
    6. Chapter 5 Kribi’s new 225 kV supply can carry a first-phase steelworks; 1 Mtpa needs its later stage and a dedicated bay
    7. Chapter 6 The Hilli FLNG’s departure makes Cameroon’s gas a domestic question, and reserves are now the binding unknown
    8. Chapter 7 A 1 Mtpa direct-reduction plant would need about 9 bcf of gas a year: affordable, but only with certified supply and DR-grade ore
    9. Chapter 8 Hydro is Cameroon’s renewable advantage for steel; solar and storage help at the margin but cannot firm an arc furnace
    10. Chapter 9 An electric steelworks at Kribi can be supplied in three steps: grid power first, firm gas-backed capacity for growth, gas for iron last
    11. Chapter 10 Five rules, not subsidies, would make Cameroon’s energy system ready for heavy industry
    12. Chapter 11 Thirteen evidence gaps remain, and most can be closed by publishing data that already exist
    13. Annex A Method, assumptions and calculations
    14. Annex B Glossary of terms and abbreviations
    15. Annex C Sources
    16. Annex D Data tables
  6. WP06Lower-carbon steel from Cameroon: it could reach a third of the world’s carbon intensity
    1. Summary Executive summary: a low-carbon start that only measurement can turn into an asset
    2. Chapter 1 Steel and climate: the route decides
    3. Chapter 2 Accounting carbon in steel: state the perimeter every time
    4. Chapter 3 The grid factor: Cameroon’s hydropower is the electric works’ largest advantage
    5. Chapter 4 An illustrative footprint: about 0.3 t within Scopes 1 and 2, about 0.6 t with imported iron
    6. Chapter 5 Carbon border measures: verified low intensity becomes a price advantage
    7. Chapter 6 Green iron: a long-term option for Central Africa, gated by ore, power and gas
    8. Chapter 7 Climate risk and adaptation: a plateau site with a wet, warming climate and an eroding port coast
    9. Chapter 8 Circularity: scrap is the cleanest input, and slag and dust are resources
    10. Chapter 9 Finance and standards: lenders, buyers and certifiers will ask for proof
    11. Chapter 10 A decarbonisation pathway: about 40% lower with known levers, further with green iron
    12. Chapter 11 Evidence gaps: what is not yet known, and how it will be resolved
    13. Annex A Method, assumptions and ranges
    14. Annex B Glossary and abbreviations
    15. Annex C Sources
    16. Annex D Data tables behind the figures
  7. WP07Building responsibly in Kribi: a steelworks can meet international standards on four conditions
    1. Summary Executive summary
    2. Chapter 1 The Kribi setting: a sensitive coast, with the steel site set back from it
    3. Chapter 2 The regulatory path: Cameroonian law already requires a detailed, public assessment
    4. Chapter 3 International standards fill the gaps national law leaves, so we apply them from design
    5. Chapter 4 Air quality: the airshed already exceeds the WHO fine-particle guideline, so the works must add as little as possible
    6. Chapter 5 Water: in Kribi the design challenge is rain, not supply, and the goal is no process discharge
    7. Chapter 6 Wastes and by-products: most residues can become products, but the hazardous dust needs a secure route before start-up
    8. Chapter 7 Biodiversity: critical habitat is unlikely on the site but present in the landscape, so the plan reaches beyond the fence
    9. Chapter 8 People and communities: the project’s social licence depends on engagement with integrity, above all with the Bagyeli
    10. Chapter 9 Lessons from Kribi’s port and other heavy industry: problems usually came from timing, and transparency usually helped
    11. Chapter 10 Commitments and how to measure them: objectives that others can check
    12. Chapter 11 Evidence gaps: what is not yet known, and how it will be found out
    13. Annex A Methods, assumptions and conventions
    14. Annex B Glossary and abbreviations
    15. Annex C Sources
    16. Annex D Data tables
  8. WP08Cameroon can staff its steel industry if training starts before the furnace does
    1. Summary Executive summary
    2. Chapter 1 A steelworks creates hundreds of skilled, durable jobs and a supply chain several times larger
    3. Chapter 2 Cameroon has young workers in abundance but few formal industrial jobs in which to train them
    4. Chapter 3 Cameroon has the schools a steel industry needs, but not yet the metallurgy, the workshops or the industrial links
    5. Chapter 4 The critical gaps are in the melt shop, the caster and supervision, and certification is the weakest link
    6. Chapter 5 Training models that work combine school, plant and supplier, and start years before production
    7. Chapter 6 Local content multiplies a steelworks’ jobs only if suppliers are developed, not merely preferred
    8. Chapter 7 Women are 44% of Cameroon’s labour force but one steelworker in ten worldwide; a new works can do better by design
    9. Chapter 8 Safety is a skill to be trained, certified and led, and in the South Region it starts from a low base
    10. Chapter 9 An illustrative workforce plan: about 500 people trained before first steel, and a cascade that grows to 900 to 1,300
    11. Chapter 10 Twelve actions would put a trained Cameroonian workforce in place before the first heat
    12. Chapter 11 What we do not yet know, and how it will be resolved
    13. Annex A Method, assumptions and derived figures
    14. Annex B Glossary and abbreviations
    15. Annex C Sources
    16. Annex D Data tables behind the figures
  9. WP09Domestic steel saves foreign exchange only when it competes at border prices
    1. Summary Executive summary
    2. Chapter 1 Cameroon’s macro context: steady growth, a widening external gap and thin buffers
    3. Chapter 2 The steel import bill: 170 bn FCFA a year, and half of it is billets
    4. Chapter 3 Import substitution done right and wrong: discipline, not protection, decides the outcome
    5. Chapter 4 Value added and linkages: the multiplier depends on making iron, not only on rolling it
    6. Chapter 5 Employment: about 500 direct jobs in Phase 1 and 1,100 at full capacity, with a wide range beyond
    7. Chapter 6 Fiscal effects: substitution moves revenue from the border to the domestic economy
    8. Chapter 7 Competitiveness at border prices: a Kribi works on imported iron competes behind the tariff, not at the border
    9. Chapter 8 The regional market and the AfCFTA: real but small nearby, larger but contested further away
    10. Chapter 9 An illustrative footprint of a phased 1 Mtpa works: the foreign-exchange gain grows with domestic iron
    11. Chapter 10 Policy recommendations: reward domestic iron and competitiveness, not rolling behind a closed border
    12. Chapter 11 Evidence gaps: what is not yet known, and how it will be resolved
    13. Annex A Methods and assumptions
    14. Annex B Glossary and abbreviations
    15. Annex C Sources
    16. Annex D Data tables
  10. WP10Safer buildings need rebar that meets its declared grade
    1. Summary Executive summary: safer buildings start with bars that meet their grade
    2. Chapter 1 Rebar quality decides whether a concrete building warns before it fails
    3. Chapter 2 Good rebar is designed in the melt shop and fixed in the rolling mill
    4. Chapter 3 The main standards agree on strength but differ on ductility, bond and proof
    5. Chapter 4 Cameroon has the legal tools for rebar quality; surveillance and testing are the gaps
    6. Chapter 5 A mill proves quality with statistics and traceability, not with single tests
    7. Chapter 6 Most defective bars can be caught on site with a scale, a tape and a bend
    8. Chapter 7 Specify the full grade, demand the proof and verify every delivery
    9. Chapter 8 On the coast, cover and concrete protect the bar more than the steel itself
    10. Chapter 9 Wire rod, mesh and sections need the same discipline, with their own tests
    11. Chapter 10 Ten measures would raise the floor of rebar quality within five years
    12. Chapter 11 Evidence gaps: what is not yet known, and how it can be found out
    13. Annex A Methods, assumptions and derived calculations
    14. Annex B Glossary of terms and abbreviations
    15. Annex C Sources
    16. Annex D Data tables behind the exhibits

Labs tools