Global Slag News

US/Canada: TMS International’s sites in the US and Canada have received 44 safety awards from the National Slag Association (NSA) for 2016. The NSA Safety Awards recognise performance as measured against Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable injury rates. The awards were presented to the company during the NSA’s annual meeting held in Hollywood, Florida.

“TMS is honoured to receive these important awards and it is a testament to the quality management within this organisation,” said Raymond Kalouche, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of TMS International.

Notably, the company’s operation in Jewett, Texas received the award for ‘2016 Most Improved Job Sites for Safety.’ Sites at Middletown in Ohio, Glassport/Horsham in Pennsylvania, PA; Freeport in Texas, Jewett and Texas and Petersburg in Virginia received safety awards for ‘Job Sites that have Exceeded 200,000 Hours Since Last Recordable Incident.’

In addition, Chad Wolfenbarger of TMS’ Portage, Indiana operation was recognised for winning the 2018 safety slogan contest with ‘Working Safely Today For Family Tomorrow.’ Sergio Mendoza of TMS’ Puebla, Mexico operation was recognised for a Best Practice award for the team’s effort in developing a slag market at the newly established site with a steel company in Sahagun, Mexico.

Brazil: ArcelorMittal Tubarão and Usiminas have been nominated in the Steelie Awards for a steel slag rural road-building project. The steel makers have been put forward for the Excellence in sustainability category of the eight edition of the awards organised by the World Steel Association. The winners will be revealed at the annual dinner of the 2017 General Assembly of the association in Brussels, Belgium on 16 October 2017.

ArcelorMittal’s research and development department developed its Revsol and Revsol Plus products, which turn steel slag into a primary road, car park and storage yard coating, replacing the use of non-renewable sources in road building. The manufacturers say that the product also reduces the need for road maintenance.

Germany: Hargreaves Raw Material Services has ordered a coal grinding plant from Claudius Peters. The plant will be installed at DK Recycling und Roheisen’s plant in Duisburg. DK, a recycler of ferrous waste including slag, will also operate the unit. Hargreaves, a raw material trader, plans to use the coal mill to supply clients in Germany and Western Europe.

The scope of supply comprises the raw coal handling, a EM 95 – 6118 type mill with a capacity of 52t/hr, the pneumatic conveying to the (already existing) coal dust silos at a distance of about 500m and four coal dust silos with truck loading. Claudius Peters will be responsible for engineering, delivery, erection and commissioning including staff training. Commissioning is planned for the fourth quarter 2018.

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia has launched a new slag cement product under the brand ‘Maxstrength Cement.’ The cement producer said it was the first Portland Slag cement produced in the country. The company can producer 1500t/day of the slag cement and it is intended for use in large scale infrastructure projects that require high flexural strength, such as bridges or road flyovers.

Europe: Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a European steel company by merging their flat steel businesses in Europe and including ThyssenKrupp’s steel mill. The proposed 50:50 joint venture will have its headquarters in Amsterdam and will be able to supply around 21Mt/yr of flat steel products.

“The Tata Group and ThyssenKrupp have a strong heritage in the global steel industry and share similar culture and values. This partnership is a momentous occasion for both partners, who will focus on building a strong European steel enterprise. The strategic logic of the proposed joint venture in Europe is based on very strong fundamentals and I am confident that ThyssenKrupp Tata Steel will have a great future,” said N Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Steel.

The merger will create the region’s second largest steel producer after ArcelorMittal. Cost synergies of up to Euro600m/yr are expected through the integration of commercial functions, research and development and other supporting activities. In addition to this, ThyssenKrupp Tata Steel would seek to improve capacity utilisation of the network across the three hubs of Ijmuiden in the Netherlands, Duisburg in Germany and Port Talbot in the UK and their related downstream facilities.