Spanish industrial waste recycler Befesa has said that it has signed a joint venture agreement with the Canadian company Silvermet Inc. to take a 51 percent stake in a steel dust recycling plant that Silvermet owns in Iskenderun, Turkey, with a total investment of US $10 million, and which will also involve the acquisition of a 10 percent stake in Silvermet.
The deal will be implemented through a jointly-owned Spanish company, namely Befesa Silvermet Turkey, S.L., which is 51 percent owned by Befesa, with 49 percent held by Silvermet. In addition to the plant, the transaction also includes an investment agreement to jointly develop the steel dust recycling business in Turkey, one of the world's top ten steel producers.
According to Befesa's statement, one of the objectives of Befesa Silvermet Turkey S.L. will be to expand its presence in the Turkish steel sector through the development of new technologies to process electric arc furnace dusts (EAFD).
Befesa is the largest manager of EAFD in Europe, with four Waelz kiln facilities that treat 500,000 metric tons per year.
Silvermet's Waelz kiln facility in Iskenderun, Turkey, has been operating since May 2009 to process the EAFD produced by local steel mills. Silvermet produces a zinc oxide concentrate from the EAFD which is sold to smelters around the world.