News & Press Releases

Recently, Chinese steel producer Henan Yaxin Steel Group Co., Ltd. (Henan Yaxin) has started up its eco-friendly minimill for flat products consisting of two EAF Quantum electric arc furnaces and an Arvedi ESP line at its Fujian Dingsheng plant. Tapping weight of each EAF unit is maximum 115 metric tons. This set-up allows for 85% CO₂ savings compared to integrated production route. The Arvedi ESP line has a design capacity of 2.5 million metric tons per year and a reproducible strip thicknesses down to 0.8 mm. This enables Henan Yaxin to produce high-quality, ultra-thin strip to enter new market segments with direct application products omitting cold rolling. Coils for the sales market were directly produced during first heat.

In September, Primetals Technologies received an order from Aperam Genk in Belgium to supply a new argon oxygen decarburization (AOD) production line and to upgrade the existing AOD 1 production line. The objectives of the project are to increase operational safety, to improve operating costs, and to further reduce environmental impacts via a dedusting system with provisions for heat recovery. Primetals Technologies will be responsible for mechanical equipment, electrics and automation as well as auxiliary equipment. The project will be carried out in a consortium with Austrian erection company SGS Industrial Services. Start-up is expected for mid-2023.

As a part of Primetals Technologies global strategic portfolio management, Primetals Technologies Italy and its portfolio was sold to Callista Private Equity GmbH, a financial investor based in Germany. The company will from now on operate under the historical brand name POMINI Long Rolling Mills S.r.l.

Primetals Technologies and SICON recently signed a cooperation agreement concerning the development of holistic solutions for the digitization of complete scrap yards. Primetals Technologies specializes, among other things, in optical scrap identification and the automation of production processes and logistics. SICON is a specialist in the processing, analysis and sorting of scrap. For the production of high quality steel grades, steel producers usually need solutions to all these issues, as well as a scrap composition matched to the end product. This "design scrap" allows a greater amount of scrap to be used in higher quality grades. This means that, when transforming a scrap yard into a digitalized and thus "smart" scrap yard, an integrated solution from Primetals Technologies and SICON saves a lot of work at the implementation stage and enables the processing of input materials for the production of high-quality end products.

Recently, ArcelorMittal Poland S.A. placed an order with Primetals Technologies and Mostostal Zabrze Realizacje Przemyslowe S.A. (MZRP) to supply a gas cleaning plant for its blast furnace #2 in Dąbrowa Górnicza, Silesia Voivodeship. The gas cleaning plant constitutes a pilot installation to be built under one of the ArcelorMittal Poland’s R&D projects co-financed from the funds of the European Regional Development Fund. The gas cleaning plant, which includes a cyclone dust separator and wet gas scrubber, will be set up as full turnkey installation. The new equipment will reduce maintenance requirements and energy consumption, increase dry dust recycling and improve the environmental footprint of the site. Work on site is scheduled to start in 2022.