Global Slag News

South Korea: South Korea's steelmaker POSCO has offloaded its shares in POSFINE Co, a slag powder producer, to a private equity fund for an estimated US$27.5m.

Under the deal, POSCO sold its 69.22% stake in POSFINE to Hahn & Co. The move came two months after POSCO had opened talks with the fund in line with its reorganisation efforts. Hahn & Co also reportedly plans to acquire the remaining shares in POSFINE from Tongyang Cement & Energy Corp, Lafargehalla Cement Corp and SSangyong Cement Industry Co.

India: Neelachal Ispat Nigam (NINL), a joint venture between MMTC, Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha (Ipicol) and Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), is reportedly planning to expand its steel output to 6Mt/yr from the existing level of 1.1Mt/yr. 

The expansion is expected to happen within five years. The cost of the expansion is likely to be around US$4.73bn, out of which US$631m has already been invested. At present, NINL's product portfolio includes pig iron and low ash mettalurgical (LAM) coke, along with nut coke, coke breeze, crude tar, ammonium sulphate and granulated slag. The envisaged products in the future include billets, bars and wire rods of different grades and sizes.

China: MCC Baosteel Technology Services (BTS) has won a contract to build a 45t slag pot carrier for Feishang Copper Industry in Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia. Improvements have been made for some minor links in accordance with the application environment of the employer. For instance, the plate-locking function of the operating device has been enhanced, double security has been realized for both lock-pin and lock-plate, so that the reliable operation of the vehicles can be ensured.

Feishang Copper Industry, a subsidiary of Feishang Group, has an output of 100,000t/yr of blister copper and 375,000t/yr of sulphuric acid.

India: Dalmia Cement Bharat (DCB) is benchmarking a brand of Portland Slag Cement at its Bokara grinding plant in Jharkjhand. The brand will be sold under the Dalmia name in Jharkjhand, Bihar and Bengal.

"Bokaro cement plant is being benchmarked to global thresholds of manufacturing excellence in producing Portland Slag Cement (PSC) under the Dalmia Cement brand name. Eastern India is a highly promising market with sufficient cement demand," said Amandeep, Business Head and Director, Bokaro Jaypee Cement Limited.

France: Holcim will sell its slag grinding plant in Dunkirk as part of divestments required by the European Commission (EC) to approve its merger with Lafarge.

The European Union's antitrust authority has required asset sales by both companies in regions where their activities overlap. The EC's approval is conditional upon the divestment of Lafarge's businesses in Germany, Romania and the UK. Holcim is required to divest its operations in France, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain and the Czech Republic. The proposed transaction concerns assets worth several billion Euros and will create the world's largest cement producer, with operations in 90 countries.

"The Commission had concerns that the transaction, as originally notified, would have had a detrimental effect on competition in a significant number of markets in the European Economic Area (EEA)," said the EC. "The commitments offered by the two companies address these concerns."

According to the EC, its assessment found that the merged entity would have faced insufficient competitive pressure from the remaining players in many markets. This would have brought a risk of price rises. In order to prevent a negative impact on competition, the companies have committed to divesting most of the operations where their activities overlap. Further, the EC said that Holcim and Lafarge will not be allowed to close the deal until it has approved the buyers of the assets put up for sale.