OREANDA-NEWS. July 01, 2008. The shortage of quality metal scrap generates the growing demand for hot briqueted iron (HBI) – a raw material used for the production of high quality electric steel, reported the press-centre of Metalloinvest.

It was the general conclusion of the conference "Using metalized raw materials for production of high quality steel products in electric arc furnaces (EAF)" held at Oskol Elektrometallurgical Plant (OEMK). The choice of the plant as a platform for the conference was determined by the fact that OEMK produces high quality electric steel using  metalized pellets as a raw material.

The conference was organized by Metalloinvest Management Company and brought together leading specialists and managers representing main steel producing companies from Russia and the CIS such as Mechel, TMK, MaxiGroup, Severstal, MMK, Moldavian and Belorussian Steel Works, as well as representatives of Metalloinvest and Moscow State Institute of Steel and Alloys.

Andrey Varichev, First Deputy General Director of Metalloinvest Management Company, mentioned that the conference was organized to face the difficult situation  at  the metal scrap market. The launch of new EAF facilities contributes to the decrease of the collected volume of metal scrap, thus making it necessary to consider the use of alternative raw materials. In this perspective, HBI  possesses a number of advantages, such as precise chemical composition, ecological compatibility and transportability.

As a global leader in HBI production, Metalloinvest already  delivers this product to metallurgical plants situated in 14 countries of the world.

The main topics raised  at the conference were dedicated to the development strategy of Metalloinvest, production of steel  out of metalized pellets at OEMK and production of electric steel using HBI in Russia.

Participants of the conference also took part at the welcome excursion organized at OEMK and Lebedinsky GOK and visited metalized pellets and HBI production facilities.