Hydrogen Metallurgy Trials Accelerate, Reshaping the Refractory Metals Demand Map

In 2026, hydrogen metallurgy in China moved from papers and plans onto construction sites. Hydrogen-based shaft furnaces and hydrogen-enriched sintering projects at several steelmakers have been ignited for trials one after another, and the industry regards this hydrogen-for-carbon technology route as a key variable in the deep decarbonization of steel. Steel is the largest downstream market for molybdenum consumption. Although the advance of hydrogen metallurgy does not directly change the chemical properties of molybdenum, it is quietly reshaping the demand map for refractory metals through cascading changes in steel grade mix, process equipment and the raw material system.

What hydrogen metallurgy has rewritten

Traditional blast furnaces use carbon as both reducing agent and heat source, while hydrogen-based direct reduction of iron uses hydrogen as the reducing agent and produces solid sponge iron. This change brings two threads: first, the source of hydrogen determines how genuinely low-carbon the process is, making green hydrogen supply a standard requirement for projects; second, the share of sponge iron melted in electric furnaces rises, and the short-process route becomes more tightly coupled with scrap and direct-reduced iron. The energy structure of the steel industry is migrating from coal and coke toward electricity and hydrogen, showing a cross-industry isomorphism with the glass industry's migration from flame to electric melting.

• Steel grades: demand for molybdenum additions in high-strength and corrosion-resistant grades remains rigid or even increases;
• Process: a higher electric furnace share changes the rhythm of alloy addition and recovery rates;
• Equipment: materials in reducing atmospheres and high-temperature zones face new corrosion and selection challenges;
• Energy: investment in hydrogen and electricity infrastructure reshapes the cost structure of high-temperature industries.

Mapping to the refractory metals and electrode industry

The direct impact of the hydrogen metallurgy wave on molybdenum shows up in demand structure: electric-furnace short-process steel grades remain no less dependent on molybdenum microalloying, and molybdenum consumption intensity is expected to hold. The indirect impact falls on high-temperature equipment materials: hydrogen-rich and strongly reducing atmospheres produce chemical behavior on furnace linings and metal components that differs from oxidizing flame environments, so the suitability of refractory metals and their alloys in new reactors and heating devices needs to be revalidated. For molybdenum electrode applications in the glass industry, this trend is more of a reference frame: two high-temperature industries are independently seeking decarbonization headroom from electricity and hydrogen, and conductive heating and hydrogen reduction share the same green-electricity logic.

Outlook

Hydrogen metallurgy still faces hurdles of green hydrogen cost and process maturity before large-scale commercialization, but the direction is set and the pace is accelerating. The refractory metals industry should prepare on two fronts: tracking how changes in steel grades and process routes affect molybdenum demand structure, and studying the service behavior of electrodes and furnace lining materials under reducing atmospheres. The energy revolution in high-temperature industries will ultimately translate into an upgrade challenge for material systems. Looking back at this trend, hydrogen metallurgy and electric melting appear to belong to two separate industries, but in essence both are a reconstruction of high-temperature industries around electricity and new reducing agents; the application foundation of molybdenum electrodes in glass melting is therefore more solid, and research on the behavior of molybdenum electrode materials for hydrogen-rich high-temperature equipment is also worth advancing early across the electrode supply chain, so that electrodes can take the initiative in the energy transition.