US: The United State Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that 15Mt of ferrous slag was produced in 2017. Blast furnace slag accounted for about 50% of the sales volume. About 85% of this value was from sales of granulated slag. Steel slag accounted for almost all of the remainder. 2.2Mt of slag was imported. Slag was processed by about 25 companies servicing active iron and steel facilities or reprocessing old slag piles at about 175 processing plants in 30 states.

The USGS reported that the supply of blast furnace slag continued to be ‘problematic’ in the US due to the closure of blast furnaces and depleted slag piles. Supply of basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steel slag was similarly affected due to plant closures. However, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) sales volumes have failed to match increases set by the overall US cement industry since 2010 despite positive long term trends.

World: Global steel production rose by 4.6% year-on-year to 1.81Bnt in 2018 from 1.73Bnt in 2017. Data from the World Steel Association shows that production rose fastest in the Middle East, Africa and Australasia. Asian production rose by 5.6% to 1.27Bnt and North American production grew by 4.1% to 121Mt. European production remained static at 312Mt, with a slight dip in the European Union (EU) balanced by slight growth in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). China remained the largest steel producing country, with 9.28Mt in 2018. It was followed by India, Japan, the US and South Korea.

China: HBIS Laoting Steel has signed a US$247m contract with US-based Harsco for mill services. The 15-year agreement expands Harsco’s partnership with HBIS. The company has provided steel mill services to Tangshan Steel Group, a subsidiary of HBIS, for over a decade previously.

Under the expanded agreement, Harsco will deliver on-site mill services, including under furnace cleaning; slag transport and metal recovery; scrap and tundish cutting; and desulphurisation and ladle slag processing. Harsco also plans to partner with Chinese design institutes to design and build metal recovery and slag processing plants when the steel mill is put into operation. Upon completion, the Harsco-designed system will be able to process 1.42Mt/yr of slag at Laoting Steel. Additionally, Harsco intends to use ‘waste to resources’ technologies to transform slag into products for construction and other purposes.

UK: Hanson has completed a Euro1.25m upgrade to its Bellshill cement terminal in Glasgow, converting it into a dual product storage and distribution site. Improvements included new pipework and a new silo monitoring system. The site has three silos: two for cement powder, transported by rail from the company’s Ribblesdale cement plant in Lancashire, and one for the storage and distribution of ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS), produced at the company’s Teesport site in Middlesbrough. The upgrade took 17 months to complete. Cement has been transported by rail to the Bellshill terminal since 2007.