Russia’s Mikhailovsky HBI, a company formed by the USM Group and Mikhailovsky GOK, has ordered a new hot-briquetted iron (HBI) plant from Primetals.
The new plant is expected to produce 2.08mn mt of HBI per year, making it the largest such facility in the world. The contract also includes engineering and other services from Midrex Technologies, a subsidiary of Kobe Steel. The plant will have a 7.15m diameter Midrex shaft furnace and use natural gas (NG) and iron ore pellets (from Mikhailovsky GOK) to make HBI, considered the most eco-friendly method to do so.
The facility’s usage of NG will halve carbon emissions compared to blast furnaces. It will also have the option to be converted to 100pc hydrogen from NG as the reductant in the future. The construction of the plant is estimated to cost around RUB40bn ($540mn) and may be completed by H1 2024.
The USM Group is the holding company of Metalloinvest, the parent company of Mikhailovsky GOK.