News & Press Releases

Mikhailovsky HBI, which was jointly established by USM and Mikhailovsky GOK (part of Metalloinvest), signed a contract with Primetals Technologies and consortium partner Midrex Technologies, Inc. to supply a new Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) Plant in Zheleznogorsk, Kursk region, Russia. The plant is designed to produce 2.08 million metric tons of HBI per year. Latest design features ensure reduced energy consumption and environmental impact. The contract includes engineering, supplies and advisory services. Startup is expected in the first half of 2024.

In December 2020, the VOD (Vacuum Oxygen Decarburization) plant, upgraded from an existing VD (Vacuum Degassing) plant by Primetals Technologies at the Dilovası meltshop of Turkish steel producer Çolakoğlu Metalurji A.S. (Çolakoğlu) received the Final Acceptance Certificate. With a heat size of 295 metric tons, the VOD is the largest worldwide. The aim of the modernization project was to enable the production of special steels, like IF grades, ULC grades or stainless steels. This helps Çolakoğlu to broaden its product range and enter additional markets. Immediately after start-up, for the first time in Turkey, stainless steel grades 304 and 304L were produced with the aid of the new VOD plant.

At Guilin Pinggang Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (Guilin Pinggang), a Chinese steel producer, an EAF Quantum electric arc furnace with a tapping weight of 120 metric tons and a 120 metric ton twin ladle furnace supplied by Primetals Technologies were started-up in December 2020. The furnaces were set up in a new production facility in Pingle near Guilin in Guangxi Province, which is intended to serve the growing market for rebars. The EAF Quantum is designed to handle scrap steel of varying composition and quality. The electrical energy requirement of the electric arc furnace is extremely low because the scrap is preheated. This reduces both the working costs and the CO2 emissions.

In January, a 10-strand billet caster upgraded by Primetals Technologies was started up in the converter steel making plant #3 in Changzhou of Chinese steel producer Zenith Steel Group Co., Ltd. (Zenith Steel). The billet caster is the first one worldwide to be equipped with the new SRD (Single-Roll DynaGap) segments. The SRD segment has been specially developed for use in the area of final solidification, and it enables the upper rolls to be pressed down individually onto the solidifying strand. This enables the final solidification point to be followed precisely. Technological packages like DynaPhase, Dynacs 3D and DynaGap SoftReduction 3D further improve the internal billet quality with regard to center porosity and center segregation.

In November 2020, an EAF Quantum electric arc furnace and a ladle furnace supplied by Primetals Technologies went productive at a greenfield project of Wuzhou Yongda Special Steel Co., Ltd. (Wuzhou Yongda) in Wuzhou city, in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. This marks the first EAF Quantum in continuous operation in China, with another eight to come. The EAF Quantum furnace is designed to handle scrap steel of very varied composition and quality. The electrical energy requirement of the electric arc furnace is extremely low because the scrap is preheated. This reduces both the operating costs and the CO2 emissions. The twin ladle furnace sets the desired steel grades and the correct casting temperature.