Image courtesy of Midrex Technologies.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Midrex Technologies is part of a consortium that has signed a contract to build what the parties involved are calling the world’s largest hot briquetted iron (HBI) plant. Midrex and Austria-based Primetals Technologies will supply equipment and technology for the Mikhailovsky HBI facility to be built in the Kursk region of Russia.
The HBI, used as a supplement or alternative to ferrous scrap in steelmaking, will be produced at a facility operated by Mikhailovsky HBI, which was jointly established by Russia-based holding company USM LLC and Russia-based mining firm Mikhailovsky GOK. Both of those firms are part of Moscow-based Metalloinvest.
According to the companies involved, the proposed plant will be capable of producing 2.08 million metric tons of HBI annually, with a startup date projected in the first half of 2024.
“This is the start of an important project for the Russian metals and mining industry that will further strengthen our country’s leadership in the global market for hot briquetted iron (HBI), the base product for the green metallurgy of the future,” states Ivan Streshinsky, CEO of USM.
“The Mikhailovsky HBI project will help fill the growing demand for low CO2 metallics that our industry desperately needs,” says Stephen Montague, president and CEO of Midrex. “We are proud of our contribution in development of HBI production and the role that Midrex plays in helping steelmakers to decarbonize.”
Nazim Efendiev, CEO of Metalloinvest, says, “Metalloinvest is the world leader in the market for merchant HBI. The company will bring its accumulated experience in organizing HBI production processes to ensure successful implementation of the project.”