March 14 (SeeNews) - Bosnian steel mill ArcelorMittal Zenica said on Tuesday it has officially inaugurated three new investment projects worth a combined 12.4 million euro ($13.2 million).
The investments in the projects - two focused on improving the company’s environmental performance and a third designed to modernise the production of one of the plant’s key products - bring total investments in ArcelorMittal Zenica to more than 160 million euro, including 50 million euro targeted specifically for environmental improvements, the company said in an e-mailed statement.
Following the inauguration of the projects, ArcelorMittal Zenica has become the first steel plant in the world to have industrial-scale hybrid filtration technology installed in its sinter plant, the company noted.
A total of 3 million euro has been invested in the new technology, which has cut dust emissions significantly, to well below the EU limit of 20 mg/Nm3. The company added it is planning to install a second such filter shortly.
"I’m extremely proud of the team involved in this project, which sets a new global standard for sinter plant emissions. The installation of the hybrid filter in ArcelorMittal Zenica is an important milestone", Pinakin Chaubal, head of process R&D at ArcelorMittal, said in the statement.
New technology, worth 4.2 million euro, has also been introduced to achieve major reductions in smoke and gas emissions from ArcelorMittal Zenica’s coke battery, the company said.
Additionally, an investment of 5.2 million euro has made ArcelorMittal Zenica the first plant in ArcelorMittal Europe to produce rebar in coil - one of the company's most important products. The annual output capacity will be raised from 300,000 to 320,000 tonnes, while improvements in the product quality and range, ease of storage and delivery will also be introduced.
"This will improve ArcelorMittal’s competitive edge in an important market sector", said ArcelorMittal Zenica CEO Biju Nair.
"The three important new investment programmes that we are announcing today represent another practical demonstration of our strong commitment to building a long term, sustainable future for steelmaking in this historic industrial city", he added.
ArcelorMittal said it worked with Danish global engineering company FLSmidth, UK engineering firm John M. Henderson Machines and Italy's SMS Meer in implementing the projects.
With 2,400 direct jobs and more than 10,000 indirectly dependent on the company for employment through more than 300 local supplier companies, ArcelorMittal is one of the Bosnia's biggest economic generators.
ArcelorMittal Zenica produces hot rolled products mainly for the Balkan, EU and North African markets. ArcelorMittal also operates an open pit iron ore mine in Bosnia's Prijedor, where it produces iron ore concentrate, lumps and fines.
($=0.940413 euro)