UAE: Emirates Steel has signed a deal with Finland’s Ecofer for slag management services for 10 years from 2020. Ecofer will process slag from Emirates Steel's Abu Dhabi plant and sell it to the construction industry, according to the Khaleej Times newspaper. The steel producer has been recycling its Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) slag product since 2014, producing roughly 2.8Mt of EAF slag in this period.

"As one of the largest integrated manufacturers of finished steel products in the region, we produce 0.8Mt/yr of slag and we are committed to finding ways to mitigate our impact on the environment,” said Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Emirates Steel.

Ecofer arranged an agreement with Egypt’s Ezz Steel earlier in 2019. The latest deal with Emirates Steel continues its intent to build strategic partnerships in the Middle East.

Europe: AcelorMittal has received approval from the European Commission (EC) for the sale of selected steelmaking assets to Liberty House Group. The divestment includes ArcelorMittal Ostrava in the Czech Republic, ArcelorMittal Galati in Romania, ArcelorMittal Skopje in North Macedonia, ArcelorMittal Piombin in Italy, ArcelorMittal Dudelange in Luxembourg and several finishing lines at ArcelorMittal Liège in Belgium. The assets are part of a divestment package that AcelorMittal agreed with the EC during its merger control investigation into its acquisition of Ilva. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the first half of 2019.

US: Councillors at the Vallejo City Council in California are preparing to make a decision on Orcem Americas’ slag cement plant project at the end of May 2019. The council has released a new draft Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR), according to the Vallejo Times-Herald newspaper. However, staff said the document is not ready to be presented to the council for certification and possible project approval under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) due to a lack of information and cooperation from the applicants for the draft status of the report. Planning permission for the slag grinding plant and marine terminal was refused in early 2017.

US: Harsco’s Metals & Minerals division has expanded an agreement with Egyptian Steel, a manufacturer of rebar and wire rods in the Middle East and North Africa. Under the terms of this expanded agreement, Harsco will provide scrap and slag management, material handling, and metal recovery services at Egyptian Steel’s Beni Suef plant. Harsco has provided similar services to Egyptian Steel’s Al Ain Al Sokhna site since late 2017.

“This contract further strengthens our market-leading role in the Africa and Middle East steel markets, where Harsco has been providing environmental services for well over two decades,” said Russ Mitchell, the Chief Operating Officer of Harsco Metals & Minerals.