Scrap Deficit Problem at the Amurstal Metallurgical Plant and Search for Alternatives to Substitute It

The Amurstal plant is the only metallurgical plant in the Far East that produces steel using electric steelmaking technology with further conversion into rolled section steel. The construction of the plant started in 1936. In 1941, the foundry was first put into operation. The production scale, a high level of technical equipment, highly qualified personnel, and perfect product quality made the company a rightful industry leader in the Far East. The plant is currently implementing a technical and economic development plan with the main task of designing rated full power. Since 2020, Amurstal has been considering the transition to the use of primary crude ore, such as hot briquetted iron (HBI). The plant is in search of an alternative to scrap metal, which has limited supply in the Far East. The electric steelmaking technology allows using a part of HBI in each melt, with the rest of scrap metal. At the end of 2019, the scrap deficit in the region reached 129 thousand tons. This work presents the main results of the production process analysis of the Amurstal metallurgical plant with the shortage of raw materials. Based on the technological process analysis of steel production, alternative types of metal charge, and its possible suppliers, the authors presented a set of solutions and developed a development strategy for Amurstal, which ensures steel production of 1.5 million tons until 2025. The authors proposed processing of slags from the plant’s reserves to obtain a metal semi-finished product and processing of secondary slags to obtain welding and surfacing materials and Portland cement. As the main solution to the shortage of raw materials, the use of iron ore pellets (IOPs) and renovation of the section of the electric steelmaking furnace are proposed to ensure heating and supply of IOPs to the furnace.