The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region could become a world leader in green steel and emerging green steel trade, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), because the region's vast solar resources can produce green hydrogen for direct reduced iron-based steelmaking.

Steelmakers around the world have started to switch from blast furnace-based production to DRI technologies by using green hydrogen.

The steel industry in the MENA region is based on direct reduction iron technology and has access to direct reduction grade (DR grade) iron ore and renewable energy. More iron ore will be processed in the MENA region, and the region has many more possibilities to access high-grade iron ore.

Brazil's Vale, the world's largest producer of DR-grade iron ore, is planning to establish a large green iron center in the Middle East, and it will supply iron ore pellets to the DRI plant at the place and will produce hot briquette iron (HBI) for local consumption and exporting.