LKAB has signed a contract with Austrian steelmaker voestalpine for delivery of pellets to a new natural-gas-based direct reduction plant in Texas, USA. The contract is for pellet deliveries, via Narvik, starting in the first quarter of 2016.
LKAB is now taking the next step into the North American market via collaboration with voestalpine’s new direct reduction plant near Corpus Christi, Texas, USA.
“This is a further step in our strategy to broaden our customer base and gain wider global coverage for our pellet products,” says Lars-Eric Aaro, President and Group CEO, LKAB.
LKAB’s high-tech, climate-smart pellets are specially adapted for steelmaking via the direct reduction process. The direct reduction route utilizes natural gas, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions. The relatively low US gas price is boosting profitability and investment in a growing American steel market.
“We have been working with voestalpine for several years to establish long-term collaboration while they have been investing in their new project. We are very pleased to announce that we are now a supplier to one of the world’s leading steelmakers,” says Peter Schmid, LKAB’s Senior Vice President, Marketing & Sales.
The company voestalpine is a global steel producer that is based in Linz, Austria. The company has 48,000 employees and is considered to be one of the world’s technology-leading steel producers. With strong market integration, voestalpine is gaining recognition as a supplier of innovative, high-performance steel components to, among other sectors, the automotive industry.
LKAB is an international high-tech minerals group that mines and upgrades the unique iron ore of northern Sweden for the global steel market. Sustainability is core to our business and our ambition is to be one of the industry’s most innovative, resource–efficient and responsible companies. The group had sales of more than SEK 20 billion in 2014 and employs about 4,500 people in 15 countries. Other group business include industrial minerals, drilling systems, rail transport, rockwork services and property management.