Asia's Carbon Crossroads: Industry Giants Forge CCUS Alliance

SINGAPORE – April 20, 2026

An unprecedented industrial alliance has marked a major milestone in Asia's battle against climate change, identifying five strategic locations for large-scale carbon capture hubs. The CCUS Hub Study, a consortium of some of the world's largest steel, energy, and resource companies, announced the completion of its first phase, narrowing a list of over 3,000 potential sites down to two in India and one each in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Australia.

The announcement signals a pivotal shift from ambition to action in the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors like steel, cement, and chemicals, which are foundational to Asia's economic growth but also major sources of CO₂ emissions. The study's second phase will now commence, focusing on detailed engineering and commercial analysis to create a viable roadmap for capturing carbon emissions and storing them permanently underground.

A Blueprint for Collaborative Decarbonization

The consortium represents a powerful, cross-sectoral approach to a problem too large for any single company or nation to solve. It includes steelmaking giants ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, JSW Steel, and Hyundai Steel Company, alongside resource titans BHP and Mitsui & Co., Ltd., and energy major Chevron.

The project's scale and complexity were underscored by the addition of three new partners, each bringing critical expertise. Japanese shipping leader Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” LINE) joins to provide strategic knowledge in the maritime transport of liquefied CO₂, a vital logistical link in the chain. Kobe Steel LTD brings further deep technical steelmaking experience, while Low Emission Technology Australia (LETA) contributes expertise on global lower-emissions technologies.

"This is exactly the kind of serious, cross-industry and international collaboration that demonstrates how industries critical to the world’s economies... can all work together to address the challenges of decarbonisation," said Mark McCallum, CEO of LETA.

This collaborative model is essential for creating the shared infrastructure—pipelines, shipping routes, and storage sites—needed to make Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) economically feasible. As Asian steel mills, which account for nearly half of the global industry's CO₂ output, face mounting pressure from mechanisms like the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), such collaborative pathways are becoming a competitive necessity.

Navigating the Policy and Commercial Frontier

While the technical potential is vast, the consortium's findings emphasize a critical reality: technology alone is not enough. A key takeaway from Phase 1 is that "strong policy support, targeted incentives, and clear regulatory frameworks are critical to making CCUS commercially viable."

The chosen hub locations reflect this intersection of geology and governance. Each country is actively building the policy architecture needed to attract the massive investment CCUS requires.

• India, home to two of the selected hubs, is finalizing a comprehensive national CCUS policy through its NITI Aayog planning commission. The policy is expected to include significant government funding, viability gap funding, and carbon pricing mechanisms to spur adoption in its vast industrial sector.
• Indonesia has already established itself as a regional regulatory leader with its Presidential Regulation No. 14 of 2024, which expanded the legal framework for CCUS beyond oil and gas to other industrial areas and introduced tax incentives.
• Malaysia recently passed its landmark Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage Bill 2025, creating a central agency, MyCCUS, and offering a 10-year, 100% investment tax allowance to fast-track projects.
• Australia boasts a mature regulatory environment under the OPGGS Act 2006 and recently amended its laws to permit the transboundary movement of CO₂, positioning itself as a potential storage service provider for the entire region.

"The completion of Phase 1 of the CCUS Hub Study marks an important milestone in building the foundations for largescale industrial decarbonisation in India and the Asia -Pacific region," noted Prabodha Acharya, Chief Sustainability Officer at JSW Steel, highlighting the need for "credible, investable pathways."

The Engineering and Logistical Challenge

With a shortlist of hubs identified, the project now moves into the complex world of engineering, geology, and logistics. The five sites were chosen for their diverse characteristics, including both onshore and offshore storage potential, which will allow the study to analyze various implementation pathways.

The geological promise of the region is immense. Indonesia and Malaysia together are estimated to hold over 600 gigatons of CO₂ storage capacity, primarily in offshore saline aquifers and depleted gas fields. Australia's potential is even larger, with Wood Mackenzie estimating a potential AU$600 billion opportunity to become a regional CCS leader. India offers unique potential in its vast basalt formations, which can mineralize CO₂ for permanent, solid storage.

Transporting captured carbon from industrial clusters to these storage sites is a central challenge. For hubs located far from emission sources, shipping liquefied CO₂ (LCO₂) is the most viable solution. The inclusion of 'K' LINE in the consortium is therefore a strategic masterstroke. The shipping giant is already a key player in Europe's pioneering Northern Lights CCS project, managing a fleet of the world's first purpose-built LCO₂ carriers. This hands-on experience in transporting CO₂ safely and reliably will be invaluable in designing the value chain for Asia.

"We believe that CCUS will play a vital role in realizing a carbon neutral society," said Michitomo Iwashita, Senior Managing Corporate Officer at “K” LINE. "Through our participation in this consortium, we will... actively contribute, from the perspective of maritime transportation, to the establishment of a sustainable CO₂ value chain."

The challenge is significant, as it involves scaling up a nascent shipping technology and developing complex infrastructure for offshore injection. However, the consortium's approach—leveraging shared infrastructure and economies of scale—aims to turn this monumental task into a feasible enterprise. As highlighted by Dr. Ben Ellis, BHP's Vice President Marketing Sustainability, with over a billion tonnes of annual steel production in Asia coming from young blast furnaces, "it’s important for industry to progress technologies to lower the emissions intensity of existing steelmaking assets." This study represents a tangible step in that direction, moving beyond pledges and into the practical work of building a lower-carbon future.