EVRAZ (LSE: EVR) and the government of Kemerovo Region (home to the Kuzbass coal basin) ? signed an agreement for cooperation in setting up a new casting and rolling mill (CRM) at EVRAZ ZSMK. This investment project will expand the plant’s product range with high-value-added products, providing diverse flat-rolled products to Russian and international consumers.
The CRM’s scheduled annual capacity is 2.5 million tonnes of hot-rolled flat steel. It will be based on an endless hot rolling technology (QSP-DUE), enabling production of 0.8 to 16 mm thick hot-rolled coil with a unique surface finish and minimum geometric tolerances.
Investments into this project are estimated at $650 million with the launch scheduled for 2025. The project will create over 350 new jobs at EVRAZ ZSMK.
“EVRAZ has all the necessary competencies and experience in flat rolling. The new casting and rolling mill at EVRAZ ZSMK will enable deliveries of quality hot-rolled flats to the domestic consumers in Urals, Siberia, and Far East and to the international markets. Importantly, the project is environment-friendly: the endless hot rolling technology will ensure maximum energy efficiency and minimum GHG emissions per ton of rolled products as compared to other flat rolling technologies”, — said Aleksey Ivanov, EVRAZ’s Senior Vice President, Commerce and Business Development.
“This agreement will become another driver for the development of non-coal industry sectors [in the region], contributing to the diversification of Kuzbass’s economy in line with the regional programme of social and economic development until 2024 approved by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
RUB 51 billion in federal allocations will be complemented by investments from private companies, who see us as reliable partners. Importantly, EVRAZ is a party to the National Project Ecology. In 2021 alone, the company will have allocated RUB 600 million to implement the Clean Air programme in Kuzbass,” — stressed Sergey Tsivilev, Governor of Kemerovo Region.
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