NLMK Group, an international steelmaking company with operations in Russia, the USA and the European Union, has embarked on the construction of a briquetting plant at its Lipetsk production site, a new production of steelmaking briquettes with a capacity of 700,000 tonnes per year. The project will create about 200 new jobs, and will enable NLMK to source raw materials for blast furnaces from blast furnace (BF) waste, to cut pig iron production costs, and to reduce its environmental footprint.

Briquettes are used as feedstock in pig iron production. They will be made through extrusion from a mixture of iron ore concentrate, dust captured in BF off-gases, as well as Fe and C containing BF sludge formed in the process of wet scrubbing BF gases.

With the launch of the new facility, over 250,000 tonnes of BF sludge will be recycled and returned to the production processed annually. Consumption of iron ore pellets used in pig iron production will reduce by 9% (about 580,000 tonnes); consumption of coke will go down by 3% (145,000 tonnes). With the share of expensive raw materials in BF operations down, the cost of pig iron production will reduce by 2%.

Konstantin Lagutin, NLMK Group Vice President, Investment Projects, said:

“NLMK Group’s new investment project is yet another example of how NLMK employs advanced environmentally friendly technologies, in this case waste recycling, to boost efficiency.  The company will bring down the cost of pig iron production by 2% by replacing cost-intensive raw materials. The new facility will enable NLKM to employ the entire volume of BF sludge generated as raw material, as well as to start recycling previously accumulated sludge, reducing its environmental footprint. This plant is just one of a whole range of efficient waste recycling projects in our pipeline.”

The facility will be built on the site of a decommissioned reinforced concrete shop. Foundation is currently being laid.  Completion of the briquette plant construction project is planned for late 2018.

Investment will total around 2.8 billion rubles.

Briquetting is a green technology with minimized environmental impact. NLMK plans to equip the plant with highly efficient dedusting equipment that will enable bringing the level of emission purification in line with best available technologies (with residual dust content not exceeding 5 mg/nm3).

About NLMK Group

NLMK Group is the largest steelmaker in Russia and one of the most efficient in the world.

NLMK Group’s high-quality steel products are used in various industries, from construction and machine building to the manufacturing of power-generation equipment and offshore windmills.

NLMK’s production facilities are located in Russia, Europe and the USA. Its steel production capacity exceeds 17 million tonnes per year.

NLMK has the most competitive cash cost among global manufacturers and one of the highest profitability levels in the industry. In H1 2017, the Company generated $4.7 billion in revenue and $1.22 billion in EBITDA. As of 30 June 2017, Net debt/EBITDA stood at 0.4õ. The company has an investment grade credit rating from S&P and Fitch.

NLMK’s ordinary shares with a 16% free-float are traded on the Moscow Stock Exchange (ticker "NLMK") and its global depositary shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker "NLMK:LI"). For more details on NLMK shareholder capital, please follow the link.

NLMK Group received the Steel Industry Leadership Award at the prestigious 2016 Platts Global Metals Awards held by S&P Global Platts, a leading international industry analytical periodical.