AMKR eyes Europe, Turkey pig iron export expansion

ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (AMKR) is eyeing an expansion of pig iron supplies to buyers in Europe and Turkey, says chief executive Mauro Longobardo.

“After maximising volumes for own production, we do not exclude the expansion of supplies to these buyers, because these markets are the closest geographically,” he observes in an interview published on AMKR’s website. “In addition, we do not exclude deliveries to non-CIS markets, like North and South America, and Asia.”

According to Longobardo, the volumes of merchant pig iron will depend on the order book for finished products and semi-finished products, which in turn depends on steel demand.

The company’s investments during the next three years are expected to total around $600 million, Kallanish notes. They include the construction of an iron ore pellet plant, reconstruction of blast furnace No.9 and the upgrade of the exhaust gas treatment system in BOF shops. The plan is to complete the projects by the end of 2023.

Thereafter, the firm can consider further investments, aimed at increasing efficiency of steelmaking and rolling capacities, and the development of new products with high added value, Longobardo observes.

AMKR expects its own pellet production will lead to higher productivity. In 2024 it plans to operate with one pellet plant with a capacity of 5 million tonnes/year and one sintering plant of more or less the same capacity.

In 2021, the enterprise does not forecast any problems related to reliability of equipment. However, the international market situation is difficult to forecast, the ceo observes. “According to the current outlook, maybe we will see a stable year without drops and decreases like in 2020,” Longobardo notes. “But, considering last year’s experience, it is still possible that the situation might change drastically within weeks.”

Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria