- Mercedes-Benz signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HyIron on November 10, 2026 to assess sourcing low carbon green iron from Namibia.
- The partners will study expanding HyIron’s Oshivela plant from 15,000 tonnes a year to a long term target of 2 million tonnes a year by 2030.
- The MoU covers technical and commercial feasibility only, and no binding supply contract has been agreed.
German automaker Mercedes-Benz has signed an agreement with HyIron, a company with German and Namibian roots, to explore industrial scale production of green iron for its vehicles.
Under the MoU, signed on November 10, 2026, the two companies will evaluate whether green iron from Namibia can be supplied to Mercedes-Benz’s manufacturing supply chain. The work will focus on the technical and commercial feasibility of the plan. A binding commercial supply contract has not yet been finalised.
The partnership centres on HyIron’s Oshivela plant near Arandis in Namibia’s Erongo region. The facility currently produces 15,000 tonnes of iron a year. HyIron is targeting 200,000 tonnes a year in the medium term and 2 million tonnes a year by 2030, and the new agreement will examine what that expansion would involve.
The deal builds on a successful pilot project with mining company Anglo American. In the pilot, South African iron ore fines were processed using green hydrogen instead of coal to produce direct reduced iron (DRI). The material was then tested in a demonstrator component for the fully electric Mercedes-Benz EQS.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
