ASTANA, Kazakhstan, December 25. Construction
has begun on a hot briquetted iron (HBI) plant in the city of
Rudny, located in Kazakhstan's Kostanay region, Trend reports via the
region’s Akimat.
The initial phase of the project is set to receive an investment
of 655 billion tenge ($1.2 billion), with the creation of over
1,000 new employment opportunities.
The planned Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) plant is poised to become
one of the largest green metallurgy facilities in Central Asia,
designed to produce HBI with a metallization degree of at least 93%
and an iron content exceeding 90%, ensuring both high product
quality and competitiveness in the global steel market.
The plant will employ advanced iron ore direct reduction
technology, utilizing the Midrex process, which is recognized for
its environmentally sustainable approach. By replacing coke with
natural gas as a reducing agent, the technology significantly
reduces the environmental impact of production.
The plant will rely on locally produced oxidized iron ore
pellets as its primary raw material. Developed by QazIron ERG, a
subsidiary of Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), the facility will
have an annual production capacity of 2 million tons of hot
briquetted iron.
