Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has announced that its subsidiary Stoilensky, the second largest producer of iron ore concentrate in Russia, has signed a contract with the Finnish plantmaker Outotec to increase its pelletizing capacity from 6 million mt to 8 million mt per year.
According to NLMK’s statement, in the 2019-21 period the company additionally plans to boost iron ore production and beneficiation capacity by 14 percent through other upgrades at Stoilensky. Thus it aims to ensure stable supply of raw materials to its pelletizer after it reaches 8 million mt of production capacity. Ultimately, NLMK will be able to increase its iron ore processing capacity from 37 million mt to 42 million mt, and to boost its iron ore concentrate output from 17.3 million mt to 20 million mt, both per year.
The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2020.