New Capacity Roundup - June 2022

Here is a selection of the major steelmakers' latest production and capacity investments announced this month. 

Europe 

British Steel, part of the Jingye Group, has announced that it will undertake a series of improvements at its Scunthorpe plant. A new £48 million billet caster, currently scheduled to enter service towards the year-end, will be installed at the facility. A further £32 million has been earmarked for the modernisation of the site’s wire rod mill, which is due to be commissioned in 2023. 

Czech Republic-based steelmaker, Třinecké železárny, has announced that it plans to launch a series of investments, designed to half its CO2 emissions, by 2030. It will start with a US$41 million scheme to replace its current sintering process with a new emission-free briquetting line, which has an annual capacity of up to 500,000 tonnes. The company is also investigating the feasibility of switching some of its production to electric arc furnace technology. 

Asia 

POSCO confirms that it has reignited the 5,500 cubic metre blast furnace No.4 at its Gwangyang facility, in South Korea, following the completion of an 18-month refurbishment project. The US$290 million investment was designed to increase the production efficiency of the unit, while also reducing its fine particulate emissions, by up to 90 percent. It has an annual crude steel production capacity of up to five million tonnes.