A selection of News in Brief stories from May/June STI

Iraq steelworks project

Italian plantmaker Danieli has confirmed that it is supplying a meltshop and rebar mill for Jordan- based Mass Global Investment’s new steelworks project in Kurdistan, northern Iraq.

The plant will have 1Mt/y capacity and start production in Q1 2012. It will include a 120t EAF, ladle furnace and five-strand continuous caster for 130mm and 150mm billets.

Billets will be hot charged by linking the caster directly to the reheat furnace. The rolling mill will produce 10-32mm debar, and will have a 16-stand continuous mill plus a six-pass, high-speed twist-free finishing block.

Director general

Worldsteel has appointed Edwin Basson as Director General of the World Steel Association, effective from August 2011.

Mr Basson joined the industry in 1994 and has held various positions at steel companies. At Iscor Ltd, he started as Chief Economist and later managed coated products and flat steel products, before moving on to Strategic Initiatives.

He joined worldsteel from ArcelorMittal where he held the position of Vice President, Commercial Co-ordination, Marketing and Trade Policy.

Indian welding company

Kobe Steel plans to establish a company to sell welding consumables and provide sales support and maintenance services for welding robot systems in India.

Kobelco Welding India (KWI) will be based in Gurgaon, Haryana state, about 30km southwest of New Delhi. Kobe Steel will hold an 80% share, while group companies Kobe Welding (Singapore) will hold 10% and Taseto Co will hold the remaining 10%.

The company will have a staff of five people. KWI will also search for new sources of raw materials for welding consumables and support procurement.

Russian EAF meltshop

SMS Siemag has commissioned an EAF meltshop at Pervouralsk Novo Trubny Works (PNTZ), ChelPipe Group, a Russian producer of pipe products.

The new meltshop called Iron Ozone 32 will provide plants within the ChelPipe Group with round billets that comply with all standards and requirements. The shop will have a billet production capacity of 1.1Mt/y.