NLMK planning to cover 100% of group's iron ore needs by 2018
MOSCOW. Aug 3 (Interfax) - NLMK Group is planning to cover 100% of the Group's iron ore needs by 2018.
The steel company said in a statement that it plans to boost iron ore production and processing to 37 million tonnes and bring concentrate output up to 17.4 million tonnes per year by 2018.
On Thursday the company announced the start of the second stage of its project to implement High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR) technology at the Stoilensky beneficiation plant.
Four HPGRs were installed in 2016 at two of the four sections of the beneficiation plant which has delivered a 12.5% increase in the processing capacity of each upgraded section. The second stage involves the installation of four HPGRs at the remaining two sections of the plant which will increase the capacity of each section by an average 10%-12% and significantly reduce the consumption of energy, the company said. NLMK Group plans to commence hot testing in December this year.
Investment in HPGR technology and the expansion of ore extraction will amount to 4.5 billion rubles.
"The implementation of high-pressure ore grinding at Sections 1 and 4 of Stoilensky's beneficiation plant increased our concentrate output by 1 million tonne per year. The HPGR technology has proved to be efficient and reliable, which enabled the management's decision to roll out the technology to the remaining Sections 2 and 3. This effort should add almost 800,000 tonnes to Stoilensky's annual output," Konstantin Lagutin, NLMK Group's Vice President for Investment Projects, was cited as saying in the statement. "This is the most significant of Stoilensky's remaining Strategy 2017 investment projects," he said.
NLMK has production assets in Russia, Europe and the U.S. Overall capacity is 17 million tonnes per year, 16 million tonnes of which is located in Russia.
NLMK's principal owner is Vladimir Lisin, whose 85.54% stake is held by Fletcher Group Holdings. Depositary receipts on the company's shares (ten receipts represent one share) are traded on the London Stock Exchange.