Russian iron ore miner Metalloinvest said Nov. 27 it will supply more high quality, low impurity iron ore pellets to meet demand for DRI and lower emissions steel.
The mining and steel company said in a statement that it will focus on supplying pellets ranging from blast furnace grade with minimum 65% iron content and less than 5% silica content to commercial quantities of premium direct reduction (DR) pellets with over 67.5% Fe and less than 1.5% silica content.
"Lebedinsky GOK and Andrey Varichev Mikhailovsky GOK's development strategy is aimed at reinforcing the company's position among the world's leading producers of high value-added iron ore products," the Moscow-based company said.
The company had produced a wider range of pellet qualities, including smaller volumes of lower iron content, and higher silica grades, and its two mining and pellet production complexes have a strategy to produce iron ore concentrate and pellets to support demand for direct reduction iron production and efficiency at blast furnaces.
"Metalloinvest continues to improve concentrate quality, while focusing on growing the share of high-margin products, namely pellets and hot briquetted iron," said Rinat Ismagilov, director of mining production at Metalloinvest's management group, in the statement. "We are aspiring to raise our product quality to the best global standards. An important element of the company's operations is the reduction of its environmental impact, and all of the projects we are implementing are aimed at significantly reducing emissions and energy consumption."
An iron ore procurement executive said improvements in Russian and Ukrainian pellets over the past few years have led them to more closely meet preferred standards in Western Europe facilities which were used to Swedish, Canadian and Brazilian iron ore pellets.
"They are improving not just in chemistry but also in metallurgical parameters," he said, referring to benefits in strength and reducibility.
Iron ore fines prices at the highest this year since 2013 -- despite weak contract pellet premiums -- may be supporting investments in the sector, as the steel industry grapples with global commitments to lower carbon emissions. Contributing to lower emissions, and helping meet Scope 3 emissions for steel customers may need vast changes to steel operations, raw materials and technological advancements.
Since this year, Mikhailovsky GOK started production of new DR-grade products with around 68% Fe and "extremely low" levels of silicon dioxide and sulfur, it said.
The company said DRI/HBI production from this type of pellet delivers energy savings of up to 50% compared to smelting pig iron, while greenhouse gas emissions are 60% lower.
At the group's Alexey Ugarov OEMK unit, new technology has been applied to DRI and electric arc furnace steelmaking processes to improve steel grades and environmental standards, it said.
OEMK "is constantly increasing the use of DRI in steel production, while reducing consumption of scrap metal," and has cut non-ferrous and harmful impurities, said Sergey Korshikov, head of steel production technical support, in the company's update.
