Displaying items by tag: Production
Global steel production rises by 4.6% to 1.81Bnt in 2018
29 January 2019World: Global steel production rose by 4.6% year-on-year to 1.81Bnt in 2018 from 1.73Bnt in 2017. Data from the World Steel Association shows that production rose fastest in the Middle East, Africa and Australasia. Asian production rose by 5.6% to 1.27Bnt and North American production grew by 4.1% to 121Mt. European production remained static at 312Mt, with a slight dip in the European Union (EU) balanced by slight growth in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). China remained the largest steel producing country, with 9.28Mt in 2018. It was followed by India, Japan, the US and South Korea.
Belgium: Data from the World Steel Association shows that world crude steel production rose by 4.6% year-on-year to 882Mt in first half of 2018. The association gathers data from 64 countries. Growth was driven by increases in Asia, where crude steel production rose by 5.2% to 614Mt. Production rose by 1.6% to 87.3Mt in the European Union, by 2.4% to 59Mt in the US and by 2.8% to 50.5Mt in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Japan: Steel slag production fell by 2.1% year-on-year to 36.7Mt in the financial year that ended in March 2018, according to Japan Metal Daily. This was attributed to increasing levels of slag recycling rates with nearly all of the blast furnace slag being reused.
Belgium: World crude steel production rose by 4.1% year-on-year to 427Mt in the first three months of 2018, according to data from the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association. Asia produced 294Mt of crude steel, an increase of 4.6%. The European Union (EU) produced 43.1Mt, up by 0.9%. North America produced 29.5Mt, an increase of 1.9%.
TiZir to restart production at Tyssedal in mid-January 2017
06 January 2017Norway: TiZir Titanium & Iron plans to restart production at its ilmenite upgrading facility in Tyssedal in mid-January 2017. A fire took place at the plant on 15 August 2016 that required the furnace to be relined. The unit has a production capacity of 230,000t/yr of titanium slag and 100,000t/yr of high-purity pig iron. TiZir has agreed with its insurance company on a full and final settlement of US$35m. TiZir is a joint-venture between Eramet and Mineral Deposits Limited.
IISCO Steel plant produces more than 1Mt/yr of steel
17 September 2015India: The new blast furnace at IISCO Steel Plant, Burnpur, West Bengal has now produced 1Mt/yr of steel, in less than a year after its commissioning. Kalyani, the country's largest blast furnace, was established on 30 November 2014.
The 4160m3 furnace was built by South Korea's POSCO (Engineering and Construction) and India's NCC Ltd and can produce about 8000t/day. With an enhanced campaign life of 20 years, the blast furnace is equipped with systems such as pulverised coal injection, cast house fume extraction, cast house slag granulation, high top pressure operation coupled with top pressure recovery turbine, twin material bin bell-less top, waste heat recovery and conveyor belt charging system. It incorporates level-II automation and has twin flat cast house with four tap holes.
The environmentally-friendly furnace ensures minimum emissions and recovers waste energy to the fullest and also has a closed-loop cooling system resulting in almost zero water discharge.
China NF Mining has suspended its Zambian production
09 September 2015Zambia: China Nonferrous Mining Corporation has said that production at Baluba Center Mine and Slag Copper Recovery Project, which belongs to its subsidiary CNMC Luanshya Copper Mines, has been suspended as a result of a 'force majeure' event that has reduced its power supply by about 30%. The production volumes of copper contained in the concentrates of Baluba Center Mine and Slag Copper Recovery Project are expected to fall by about 4800t and 1200t, respectively by the end of 2015.
According to the declaration of a force majeure event issued by ZESCO Limited and Copperbelt Energy Corporation, the power supply for companies in Zambia, the shortage of electricity supply may last until April 2016. The date of resumption of production has not yet been determined.
Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium halts operations
21 July 2015South Africa: Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium has temporarily ceased steel production at its steelworks, citing working capital constraints and reduced domestic demand mainly owing to a 'significant' increase in steel imports from China.
Evraz said in a statement that it was currently communicating with its employees and it intends to resume production once adequate funding has been secured and steel trading conditions have improved to ensure the company's sustained future financial viability.
The decision to halt production at the company's iron-making division was brought about by delayed debtors payments, inadequate cash to procure the required raw materials to continue with manufacturing operations, difficulties experienced with access to funding and a continued inability to pay major creditors on time. The company added that the feeding of raw materials into the iron-making kilns had been halted to enable the furnaces to be safely drained and switched out, ready for a future start-up.
"The steel plant will be stopped and made safe once all the hot metal has been processed. The two mills will continue operating until all the available stocks have been rolled into saleable products, whereafter these operations will also be safely stopped. The plant and equipment will, for the moment, be placed on care and maintenance and prepared for future start up," said Evraz in a statement.
South Africa's largest steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) had also recently spoken out about the difficult conditions facing local steel producers. AMSA CEO Paul O'Flaherty recently confirmed that the industry was seeking greater protection from steel imports through the implementation of a 10% ad valorem duty on such imports. Further, the sector had also called for regulations stipulating that locally-produced steel be used in public infrastructure projects.
China produced 100Mt of steel slag in 2014
19 January 2015China: The total amount of steel slag generated in China was about 100Mt in 2014. At present, around 1Bnt of steel slag has accumulated in the country, but only 10% has been utilised for new purposes.