Unlocking Asia-Pacific as a First Mover 2025

Contents Preface Executive summary 1 Australia’s strategic green iron opportunity 1.1 Green iron could boost export revenues and hedge against declining coal and gas sales 1.2 Climate impacts strengthen case for decarbonization 1.3 Australia’s edge on the competition 1.4 Urgency of opportunity requires action now 2 Green iron landscape in Australia 2.1 Australia’s iron industry and low-carbon pathways 2.2 Federal and state policies and strategies supporting green industrial transformation 3 Enabling the green iron supply chain through decarbonized transport 3.1 The scale of the challenge and the opportunity 3.2 Trucking – batteries, biofuels and hydrogen all in the mix 3.3 Shipping – green ammonia holds promise to cut emissions 3.4 Green trucking and shipping corridors require regional collaboration 4 Cross-cutting enablers and collaboration platforms 4.1 Barriers and bottlenecks facing Australia’s green iron industry 4.2 Finance enablers 4.3 Policy enablers 4.4 Infrastructure enablers 4.5 Regional enablers 5 The way forward for Australia’s green iron industry 5.1 Key takeaways from industry stakeholders 5.2 Five priority actions needed during FY2026-27 to deliver Lighthouse project success Appendix A1 Government funding for clean energy skills development in 2024-25 budget A2 Australian diplomacy to promote green trade with regional partners A3 Collaboration bodies that could promote regional trade in green iron Contributors Endnotes4 5 7 8 9 10 10 11 12 17 20 21 22 23 24 27 28 29 35 39 42 45 46 47 49 49 49 50 51 52 Unlocking Asia-Pacific as a First Mover: Australia’s Green Iron Opportunity 3