Value chain

From ore to structures, tonne by tonne.

A steelworks is not a stand-alone factory: it is a link. Ore, energy, transport, transformation and markets form one chain, and it is the whole chain that creates value. This page describes it as it exists in Cameroon, and as it could be completed.

See the flows Explore the tonnages

Ore≈ 176 ktbehind the reduced iron; mined and reduced abroad in Phase 1
Iron≈ 362 kt109 kt of reduced iron and 254 kt of scrap in the furnace charge
Liquid steel≈ 319 kttapped from the arc furnace
Billet≈ 313 ktcast without a stop, cut to length
Bar≈ 300 ktreinforcing bar and wire rod
Structure≈ 300 ktthe same tonnes, in buildings, bridges and port works

DerivedTonnes a year in the Phase 1 reference case: 300 kt of products, 30% reduced iron in the charge. Six states of matter, six changes in value.

1.21Mt/yr

Metallic charge (scrap and reduced iron) for 1 Mt of finished products

Source

Cameroon Steel, reference configuration RC-1 (edition 10 Oct 2026): capacities × RC-1 planning assumptions (yields 0.88 and 0.94, 30% reduced iron, 30 t trucks, 300 days); planning estimate, not a design figure

1Mt/yr

Target design capacity, built in phases

Source

Cameroon Tribune, « Industrialisation : la voie royale de l’émergence », 2 Jan 2025

cameroon-tribune.cm/article.html/68558/fr.html/details_2

412,049t

Cameroon imports of iron and steel (HS chapter 72) in 2025

Source

INS Cameroun, Évolution du commerce extérieur en 2025 (version provisoire), Feb 2026

ins-cameroun.cm/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Note-sur-le-comme

64Mt/yr

Iron-ore mine capacity in development in Cameroon: 9% of the global pipeline, fourth after Australia, China and Guinea

Source

Global Energy Monitor, Pedal to the Metal 2026, May 2026

globalenergymonitor.org/sites/default/files/2026-05/Pedal%20

The chain as it stands

What exists, what is being built, what remains to be done.

Cameroon already has strong links: a deep-water port, rolling mills, a hydro-dominated grid. What it mostly lacks is the upstream, iron and billets, and a way to move the ore.

Existing
Under construction
Planned by Cameroon Steel
Developed or proposed by third parties
Long-term option
Missing link

Resource
- Iron-ore deposits
  Mbalam, Lobé, Bipindi–Grand Zambi, Nkout: mining projects in development by third parties, with no regular exports yet.
  Developed or proposed by third parties
- Domestic scrap
  Covers about 40% of existing mills’ needs.
  Existing
- Hydro-dominated electricity
  About 90% of generation in 2025 (ARSEL).
  Existing
- Direct-reduction-grade concentrate
  Demonstrated in testwork, but no concentrator or pellet plant is planned to date.
  Missing link
Transport
- Kribi deep-water port
  16 m quay; 12.7 Mt handled in 2025.
  Existing
- Kribi 225 kV line and substation
  Commissioning announced for the end of 2026.
  Under construction
- Mbalam–Kribi railway
  PPP contract signed in 2022, not built.
  Developed or proposed by third parties
- Édéa–Kribi–Lolabé–Campo railway
  Memorandum of 4 June 2026.
  Developed or proposed by third parties
Transformation
- Douala melt shops and re-rollers
  About 1.2 Mt/yr installed, running at about 50%: billets and scrap are scarce, and the press reports unsold stock (September 2026). For rebar, capacity far exceeds demand.
  Existing
- Kribi electric melt shop, Phase 1
  Arc furnace, continuous casting, bar and wire-rod mills.
  Planned by Cameroon Steel
- Sections and beam mills
  Phases 2 and 3, towards 1 Mt/yr.
  Planned by Cameroon Steel
- Direct-reduction module
  For Cameroonian ore, if concentrate and gas come together.
  Long-term option
Products
- Reinforcing bar
  Made locally; imports suspended since 2016.
  Existing
- Billets
  161 kt imported in 2023: the largest steel import.
  Missing link
- Flat products
  Hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated: fully imported.
  Missing link
- Sections and heavy beams
  Imported; targeted by Phases 2 and 3.
  Planned by Cameroon Steel
End uses
- Housing
  Estimated deficit of 1.8 to 2.0 million units (CAHF, 2024).
  Existing
- Public infrastructure
  Bridges, roads, ports, energy: construction grew 4.3% in 2025 (INS).
  Existing
- Industry and energy
  Frames, industrial buildings, pylons, tanks.
  Existing
- Neighbouring markets
  Cameroon already exports bars, mostly to Chad.
  Existing

Sources: INS, UN Comtrade, Port Autonome de Kribi, Global Energy Monitor, Cameroonian business press (2023 to 2026); figures and their sources are given further down.

The flow of material

A 1 Mt/yr chain, in tonnes.

Each ribbon is as thick as its tonnage; each particle moves at a speed proportional to that tonnage. Colour follows temperature, from the white of the furnace to cooled steel. Switch between phases to watch the chain grow.

Hot → ColdSpeed ∝ tonnage

AImported reduced iron 109 kt
BScrap, local and imported 254 kt
CAdditions and fluxes (balance) 6 kt

AImported reduced iron 181 kt
BScrap, local and imported 423 kt
CAdditions and fluxes (balance) 10 kt

AImported reduced iron 363 kt
BScrap, local and imported 846 kt
CAdditions and fluxes (balance) 20 kt

Rebar and wire rod 300 kt
Angles, channels, flats 200 kt
H-beams and heavy sections 500 kt
Slag, to aggregate 149 kt
Dust, licensed recovery 16 kt
Mill scale 20 kt
Crop ends, remelted 44 kt

Illustrative material balance of the RC-1 reference configuration: charge, liquid steel, billets, products and co-products, in tonnes per year.

Flow table (tonnes per year)

Flow table (tonnes per year)
Flow	Phase 1 · 0.3 Mt/yr	Phases 1+2 · 0.5 Mt/yr	Full · 1 Mt/yr
Imported reduced iron → Arc and ladle furnaces	109 kt	181 kt	363 kt
Scrap, local and imported → Arc and ladle furnaces	254 kt	423 kt	846 kt
Additions and fluxes (balance) → Arc and ladle furnaces^*	6 kt	10 kt	20 kt
Arc and ladle furnaces → Liquid steel	319 kt	532 kt	1,064 kt
Arc and ladle furnaces → Slag, to aggregate	45 kt	74 kt	149 kt
Arc and ladle furnaces → Dust, licensed recovery	5 kt	8 kt	16 kt
Liquid steel → Billets, cast then rolled	319 kt	532 kt	1,064 kt
Billets, cast then rolled → Rebar and wire rod	300 kt	300 kt	300 kt
Billets, cast then rolled → Angles, channels, flats	–	200 kt	200 kt
Billets, cast then rolled → H-beams and heavy sections	–	–	500 kt
Billets, cast then rolled → Mill scale	6 kt	10 kt	20 kt
Billets, cast then rolled → Crop ends, remelted^*	13 kt	22 kt	44 kt

kt = thousand tonnes. * Closing items computed so that every node balances: additions = liquid steel + slag + dust − metallic charge; crop ends = liquid steel − products − mill scale. RC-1 applies one combined casting-and-rolling yield of 0.94, so casting and rolling losses are shown together after the billets.

Illustrative Cameroon Steel, RC-1 reference configuration (10 October 2026): metallic yield 0.88 (RC-1 assumption), slag 140 kg/t (IFC range for solid waste, 2007) and dust 15 kg/t (assumption within the range of the EU reference document, 2013), 30% reduced iron in the charge. Illustrative, not contractual.

Reading the flows

What the furnace consumes, what the mill gives back.

To deliver one million tonnes of finished products, the reference configuration puts about 1.21 million tonnes of metal into the furnace: scrap and, for about 30%, imported reduced iron, which brings clean and consistent iron units. The furnace returns roughly 1.06 Mt of liquid steel; the difference goes to slag and dust, and some of the iron oxidises.

None of these co-products is waste by nature. Electric-furnace slag, about 149,000 t a year at full capacity, becomes road aggregate after processing. Furnace dust is hazardous and must go to a licensed zinc-recovery route. Crop ends from the mill go back to the furnace, and mill scale is recycled.

The chain also has logistical weight: without a railway, about 245 truckloads a day would move in and out of the site at full capacity (metallic charge in, finished products out), and about 1.24 Mt of metallics and consumables would arrive through the port. That is why the site lies in the zone served by the deep-water port, and why the rail projects matter for what follows.

~149kt/yr

Electric-furnace slag at 1 Mt/yr (140 kg/t of liquid steel), recoverable as aggregate

Source

RC-1; IFC, EHS Guidelines for Integrated Steel Mills (2007), Table 4: arc-furnace solid waste 110 to 180 kg/t, mostly slag

~1.24Mt/yr

Indicative port arrivals at full capacity: imported metallics and consumables

Source

~245truckloads/day

Truckloads in and out at full capacity if everything moved by road (metallic charge and finished products; 30 t, 300 days/yr), before any rail siding

Source

~94MW

Average power demand at 1 Mt/yr (≈ 753 GWh/yr), before furnace peaks

Source

Cameroon Steel, reference configuration RC-1 (edition 10 Oct 2026): capacities × electricity per tonne; arc furnace 450 kWh/t (IFC range 347 to 500) and rolling 110 kWh/t (IFC range 70 to 140), induction heating 300 kWh/t and auxiliaries 70 kWh/t (RC-1 assumptions); planning estimate, not a design figure

The diagnosis

The country imports billets first.

Chapter 72 import tonnage more than doubled between 2019 and 2025. The composition shows where the gap lies: by value, almost half is billets, the semi-finished product that feeds the country’s rolling mills.

Chapter 72 imports (pig iron, iron and steel), thousand tonnes

Sourced INS Cameroun, Évolution du commerce extérieur, annual notes 2019 to 2025 (2025 provisional, Feb 2026). * 2025: provisional figures.

Composition of chapter 72 imports in 2023, US$ million

US$ m

Billets were about 49% of the value of chapter 72 imports in 2023 (derived).

Sourced UN Comtrade public API, Cameroon (reporter 120), imports 2023, HS 72 and 6-digit lines

182,890t

Chapter 72 imports in 2019, against 412,049 t in 2025 (+125%)

Source

INS Cameroun, notes annuelles sur le commerce extérieur 2019 à 2025

ins-cameroun.cm/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Note-sur-le-comme

161kt

Billets imported in 2023, the largest steel import (78% from Indonesia)

Source

UN Comtrade, Cameroon (reporter 120), HS 7207, 2023

comtradeapi.un.org/

~1.2Mt/yr

Installed steel transformation capacity in Cameroon, running at about 50%: billets and scrap are scarce, and the press reports more than 30 billion FCFA of unsold stock (September 2026)

Source

Sikafinance, 30 Sep 2026; Camer.be, 1 Oct 2026; Cameroun24, 10 Oct 2026 (industry figures)

www.sikafinance.com/marches/cameroun-le-groupe-prometal-decr

~40%

Share of mill feedstock covered by local scrap; the rest is imported, mostly as billets

Source

Sikafinance, 30 Sep 2026; Cameroun24, 10 Oct 2026

cameroun24.net/article/76267-40-millions-d-euros-d-afreximba

31,033t

Bars exported by Cameroon in 2025 (HS 7214), mostly to Chad

Source

INS Cameroun, Évolution du commerce extérieur en 2025 (provisional); destinations: UN Comtrade 2023

ins-cameroun.cm/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Note-sur-le-comme

Where value is created

Value stays where matter changes state.

At every step, material gains value because it gains precision: chemistry, dimensions, mechanical properties, traceability. Importing billets means paying abroad for melting, refining and casting; importing beams means paying for the rolling too. Every link brought home keeps skilled jobs, foreign exchange and know-how in the country.

Order matters. Cameroon already rolls its own reinforcing bar; what is missing are the upstream links and the products nobody makes yet. That is the order in which Cameroon Steel plans to build: liquid steel and billets first, then sections and beams, and eventually iron from national ore.

15%

Minimum share of mine output for local processing (2023 Mining Code, art. 40(4))

Source

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

15%

Share of Mbalam output that Cameroon Mining Company’s convention is reported to provide for local transformation; the same report presents Cameroon Steel as the future national steel hub of the Mbalam programme

Source

Camer.be via AllAfrica, « Cameroon Mining Company confirme l’entrée du projet Mbalam dans sa phase irréversible d’exécution », 12 Dec 2025

fr.allafrica.com/stories/202512120475.html

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