The Russian iron ore and steel producing company Metalloinvest Holding (Metalloinvest) has announced that during the last ten days of August all its four subsidiaries completed overhauls at their main workshops, intended to maintain the high quality of products and to improve the efficiency and reliability of equipment.
In particular, Metalloinvest's mining subsidiary Lebedinsky GOK has finished the overhaul of the second phase of its hot briquetted iron (HBI) plant, which included the repair and replacement of the equipment and the inspection of the process monitoring and control systems. As a result, the HBI plant, which is the most up-to-date unit of the mill, will be able to produce briquettes meeting new standards amid the changed economic conditions. According to the company's report, currently briquettes are the top-selling product of the mill, while the demand for this raw material is still at pre-crisis level. Lebedinsky GOK supplies briquettes to the world's largest steel companies such as ArcelorMittal, Corus, Celsa, POSCO, Erdemir, and others.
Meanwhile, Mikhailovsky GOK (MGOK), Metalloinvest's iron ore producing subsidiary has completed scheduled repairs of its roast machine No.2 and of the entire process flow of the pellet plant. As a result of the upgrading of the main equipment, the mill will be able to achieve high productivity at the lowest costs, which is especially important in view of the anticipated growth of demand for pellets in the coming months.
Metalloinvest's steelmaking subsidiary Oskol Elektrometallurgical Plant (OEMK) has finished the repairs of the electric arc furnace in its electric furnace shop. Currently, the furnace is operating at a double production rate. In order to ensure the environmental safety of processes, OEMK has also repaired its gas treatment facilities. Two upgraded metallization units will be put into operation at OEMK during the first ten days of September.
In addition, Ural Steel, another steel producing subsidiary of Metalloinvest, has also successfully upgraded equipment at its electric furnace shop, leading to a considerable improvement in the quality of produced slabs.
"In view of current economic conditions, the company's investment activities are aimed at improving the efficiency of existing production facilities. We continue financing and implementing projects focused on cost reduction, productivity gains and constant improvement of product quality. This enables the company's enterprises to remain competitive and profitable during the crisis," Metalloinvest's financial director Eduard Potapov stated.