NLMK Group, an international steel company with facilities in Russia, Europe and the USA, boosted its spending on environmental projects and initiatives by 12% in 2016* to RUB 7.05 billion.

The majority of funds were used for projects and initiatives to improve air quality. For example, NLMK Lipetsk upgraded gas cleaning systems at the refractory shop and sintering plant; and installed a new dedusting system for Blast Furnace No.4. As a result of these efforts, the Lipetsk Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring Agency did not record a single breach of the acceptable dust level during 2016.

NLMK Group's other facilities used their allocated funds to finance projects aimed at reclamation of former landfill sites, construction of sewage treatment plants and noise pollution reduction initiatives, among others.

Galina Khristoforova, NLMK Group Director for the Environment, said: "We adopt new technologies and solutions in an effort to reduce our environmental footprint. Major investment in hundreds of environmental projects and initiatives over the past five years, totalling close to RUB 26 billion, has delivered a significant boost to the company’s environmental performance. The company has ramped up its steel output by almost 50% during this period, while specific emissions have been reduced by 25%.”

Protecting the atmosphere

NLMK Group's specific emissions have been cut by 45% over the past decade, to approach the level of best available technology of 18.9 kg per tonne of steel.

Projects designed to reduce air emissions are underway across NLMK Group. NLMK Lipetsk, for example, has more than 4000 state-of-the-art gas-cleaning units that capture more than 98% of dust for recycling back into production.

A new pelletizing plant was put into operation at Stoilensky in 2016, featuring a gas-cleaning system that captures 98% of emissions and returns them to the process flow. NLMK Ural's facilities completed a number of initiatives in 2016 to establish a sanitary protection zone.

*-NLMK Group’s Russian assets

Sustainable management of water resources

Most of the companies that make up NLMK Group, such as NLMK Lipetsk, Altai-Koks, VIZ-Steel, NLMK Kaluga and Stoilensky, employ state-of-the-art closed loop supply systems for their process water. These systems delivered a 2% reduction in specific water consumption across the Group to 4.8 m3/t in 2016, while this figure has been brought down by 63% over the past decade. This is far superior to the best available technology level, which stands at 7 m3/t. Specific discharges into water also dropped by more than 6% to 1.38 kg per tonne of steel in 2016. A wastewater treatment plant was built at an NLMK Ural facility in 2016 to eliminate waste-water run-off.

Waste management

NLMK Group’s recycling rate has increased to 14.5%, while total waste output dropped by 5.4% year-on-year. This is largely overburden rock and beneficiation tailings from Stoilensky, which are not generally viewed as waste elsewhere in the world. NLMK Group uses production waste efficiently, with more than 75% recycled. NLMK Lipetsk reduced accumulated waste by 2.8 million tonnes over the past ten years, including through recycling of the slag dump. VIZ-Steel has recovered 4.1 ha of land thanks to the reclamation of the Lesnoy landfill. 

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 operates production facilities in Russia, Europe and the United States. The Company’s 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 FY2016, the Company generated $7.64 billion in revenue and $1.94 billion in EBITDA. As of 31 December 2016, Net debt/EBITDA stood at 0.36õ. 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 Steel Industry Leadership Award at the prestigious 2016 Platts Global Metals Awards held by S&P Global Platts, a leading international industry analytical periodical.

*Including operating and repair costs