Russia-based leading steel producer Metalloinvest has announced that it has launched the upgraded blast furnace No. 2 at its subsidiary Ural Steel. The investment in the project amounted to RUB 2.5 billion ($33.5 million).
The upgraded blast furnace has a maximum capacity of 760,000 mt of pig iron per year. The blast furnace No. 2 has the advantage of being able to operate on a charge using a content of up to 95 percent iron ore pellets, higher compared to a traditional blast furnace.
“The re-equipping of blast furnaces is an important stage in Ural Steel's comprehensive development program. As a result of its implementation, we will have a modern, powerful production facility,” Nazim Efendiev, CEO of management company Metalloinvest, said.
“We have completed the technical re-equipping of blast furnace No. 2. Next in line is blast furnace No. 3. Altogether they will produce about 2 million mt of pig iron a year, while reducing coke consumption and cutting costs,” Ildar Iskakov, managing director of Ural Steel, said.
Metalloinvest’s large-scale investment project is being implemented as part of Ural Steel’s strategic integrated production development program. Its measures will improve the enterprise’s efficiency and reduce its carbon emissions. The company plans to start reconstruction of blast furnace No. 3 in February 2021.
