Boston Metal (IFC-47774)

Countries
  • Brazil
  • United States of America
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Coronel Xavier Chaves (BRS), Woburn (MA, USA)
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
May 23, 2023
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Boston Metal
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Equity
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 20.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Apr 30, 2023

Disclosed by Bank Apr 20, 2023

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated by the IFC, Boston Metal was created in 2012 with technologies licensed from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Company patented the Molten Oxide Electrolysis (MOE), a technology that can be used to reduce the carbon footprint of steel production and to produce high-value metals, such as tin, tantalum and niobium.
Boston Metal is planning to ramp up production of steel at its new industrial demonstration plant, begin its construction in 2024 and start commercial operations in 2026. The location of the new plant has not been decided yet.  
In 2022, Boston Metal established a subsidiary in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where MOE technology will be used to recover high-value metals from mining slag. The project will be built in the municipality Coronel Xavier Chaves. In addition to the plant, the project will include the civil works for the connection to the electrical grid which is located around 500 meters away from the project site.  
The proposed IFC investment is a $20M equity investment as part of a Series C round to further develop and commercialize the MOE platform and expand BM’s operations in the United States and Brazil.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

From the IFC's website:

Boston Metal was created in 2012 with technologies licensed from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Series C round is led by ArcelorMittal, with participation from other investors, including Microsoft. Existing investors include strategic players such as Vale, BHP and BMW, climate-tech focused groups such as Energy Impact Partners and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and deep-tech specialists such as The Engine.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - ArcelorMittal Investor Industry and Trade
- - - - Boston Metal Client Industry and Trade
- - - - Breakthrough Energy Ventures LLC Investor Energy
- - - - Vale SA Investor Industry and Trade

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

General IFC Inquiries - IFC Communications:

Address: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20433
Telephone: +1 202-473-3800
Fax: +1 202-974-4384

Borrower - Boston Metal:

Phone: +1 (781) 281-7657
Email: info@bostonmetal.com
Address: Woburn, MA 01801, United States
Website: www.bostonmetal.com

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries.

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly,  you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC’s Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC’s Executive Vice President. 

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org.  You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org/

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How it works