OREANDA-NEWS. January 11, 2012. Severstal North America, one of the largest US-based steel producers and a wholly-owned subsidiary of OAO Severstal, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and mining companies, announced that it entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd, National Energy Corporation Ltd., Complejo Metalurgico Dominicano S.A., and Neal & Massy Holdings Ltd. to conduct a feasibility study for construction of a Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) facility in Trinidad and Tobago.

The new facility would allow Severstal North America to secure a consistent supply of DRI for its Electric Arc Furnace operation in Columbus, Mississippi. Located on the Union Industrial Estate in La Brea, the project would involve the construction of a Direct Reduced Iron/Hot Briquetted Iron plant with a nominal capacity of 1.5 million metric tons per year.

“We are grateful to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for the support we have received on this project,” said Sergei Kuznetsov, Chief Executive Officer of Severstal North America. “Integration into raw materials is an important part of our strategy. We are pleased with the progress achieved to date and are looking forward to successful completion of the feasibility study and the next phases of the project.” Kuznetsov added.