UK-based plantmaker Primetals Technologies has announced that Austrian steelmaker voestalpine AG’s new direct reduction plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, with an annual capacity of two million mt, supplied by Primetals and Charlotte, North Carolina-based DRI technology supplier Midrex Technologies, has successfully passed performance tests. Measurements included hot briquetted iron (HBI), HBI physical and chemical characteristics, the plant's natural gas and electricity consumption, water quality measurements and environmental/emissions impacts.
Primetals stated that the plant produces high-quality HBI from iron ore pellets using the direct reduction process and through the use of natural gas, which in the US is about one-quarter of the price in Europe, significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the voestalpine Group, in line with the company’s ambitious internal energy efficiency and climate protection objectives. Around half of the planned two million mt of HBI will be supplied to the Austrian steel plants in Linz and Donawitz. The other half will be sold to partners interested in supply over the long term.