South Africa: Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium's bankruptcy protection practitioners have named International Resources Limited (IRL) as the successful bidder for South Africa's second-largest steel producer.

Hong Kong's IRL has offered US$26.2m to settle creditors' claims against Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium and US$1.49m as a payment to shareholders. IRL, which has interests in mining, forestry and real estate, would invest a further US$307m in the business over the next three to four years to refurbish equipment and build a 200MW cogeneration plant. The company would also increase steel production to pre-2008 levels of 910,000t/yr within 18 months. Following the completion of the capital upgrade, steel production would be increased to 1.5Mt/yr over the next three to four years. In addition, IRL intends to establish an ultra-high grade 23,000t/yr vanadium pentoxide production line. The commissioning of a 200,000t/yr titanium slag production line, producing 75% titanium, would further enhance Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium's production site.

Should IRL's proposal be accepted, the company would start production as soon as possible. As an alternative, IRL proposed to buy Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium as a going concern for US$26.2m. If neither of the two proposals is accepted, Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium would be wound down and creditors might receive between 10 - 14% of their claims.

India: 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.

Zambia: 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.

India: Close on the heels of despatching its first export consignment of steel to quake-hit Nepal on 30 July 2015, the Steel Authority of India's newly expanded and modernised IISCO Steel Plant at Burnpur has sent its first export consignment of granulated slag to Bhutan.

The consignment, which consisted of 4000t of slag produced from the plant's new blast furnace, will be utilised by cement plants in Bhutan, as well as by Indian cement producers ACC and Burnpur Cement. IISCO steel plant currently produces around 40,000t/month of granulated slag and has export orders lined up from other neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bangladesh. Preparation is ongoing for an export consignment of two rakes of granulated slag to customers in Nepal.