MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – February 1, 2024 – Metalloinvest’s Lebedinsky GOK has produced its 60 millionth ton of hot briquetted iron (HBI), a low-carbon iron ore feedstock that can help significantly reduce emissions from making steel in electric furnaces.
Having started producing HBI 25 years ago, Lebedinsky GOK now has a production capacity of 4.6 million tonnes of HBI per year.
The company began building Europe’s first direct iron reduction plant in 1997, which reached its design capacity of 1 million tonnes per year in 2003.
Lebedinsky GOK started operating a second HBI production plant, with a capacity of 1.4 million tonnes, in 2007, and a third plant was put into operation on July 14, 2017, the day marking its 50th anniversary. Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in the official launch ceremony.
The direct reduction process used in the production of HBI is the most environmentally friendly way to extract iron from ore. It produces none of the emissions associated with the production of coke, sinter and pig iron, nor solid waste in the form of slag.
HBI is almost completely free of phosphorus and sulfur, which means it is of higher quality. Unlike scrap metal, metallized briquettes do not contain impurities: one of the characteristics of the steel they are used to produce is the purity of its alloy, which is an important characteristic, including for its reuse.
HBI is primarily used for the production of a wide range of high quality steels for use in the machine building, machine tool, oil and gas, automotive, vehicle manufacturing, bearings and metallurgy.
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