Severstal to supply SSAB magnesia pellets

Karelsky Pellet, Russia's leading iron ore processing plant, part of PJSC Severstal, has signed a three-year contract for the supply of magnesia pellets to the Swedish-Finnish SSAB group for three years, starting in September 2015. SSAB specializes in the production of high-strength and high-quality steels for various purposes.

For many years, Karelsky Pellet has been supplying pellets to the Finnish metallurgical concern Rautaruukki, which in 2014 became part of the merged SSAB Group, and now mutually beneficial relations continue. Rautaruukki has now closed its sinter plants, which were enriching sinter with magnesia for blast furnace smelting, so SSAB needed to supply pellets immediately enriched with magnesium. Until recently, Karelsky pellets supplied the Finnish company with only non-fluxed pellets.

Karelsky Pellet and Rautaruukki worked together to create pellets containing increased amounts of magnesium. For two years, with the assistance of researchers from the University of Oulu, the physical, chemical and metallurgical properties of the new pellets were tested. Trial heats at the Kostomuksha ore mining and processing plant made it possible to satisfy all the wishes of Finnish customers. After all the necessary tests were carried out in laboratory and industrial conditions, the industrial production of magnesia pellets began.

At the same time, magnesium supplies for the production of pellets are carried out from the Mondo Minerals concentrator located in Finland. The plant produces talc from magnesite ores, and magnesium is generated as production waste. This cooperation demonstrates the mutually beneficial relationship between Russia and Finland.

Alexey Kuznetsov, head of the workshop for technical control and laboratory research, noted that until now the plant produced only two types of pellets - non-fluxed and fluxed with an increased amount of iron, now the production of the third type of product - magnesia pellets, which were specially developed for the SSAB concern, has begun. In order to improve the efficiency of customer service, it is planned to re-equip warehouses for storing various types of products and to increase the loading capacity of the enterprise.