Russian steelmaker NLMK Group has announced that it has started construction of a briquetting plant at its Lipetsk production site, a new production of steelmaking briquettes with a capacity of 700,000 mt per year. The project will create about 200 new jobs, and will enable NLMK to source raw materials for blast furnaces from blast furnace waste, to cut pig iron production costs, and to reduce its environmental footprint. The construction of the briquetting factory is planned to be completed by the end of 2018. The total investment in the project will be about RUB 2.8 billion ($47.82 million).
According to NLMK’S statement, with the launch of the new facility, over 250,000 mt of blast furnace sludge will be recycled and returned to the production processed annually. Consumption of iron ore pellets used in pig iron production will reduce by nine percent (about 580,000 mt); consumption of coke will go down by three percent (145,000 mt). With the share of expensive raw materials in blast furnace operations down, the cost of pig iron production will reduce by two percent.