Industry, Logistics & Shipping

Emirates Steel partners with Finland's Ecofer Technologies

Emirates Steel, the only integrated steel plant in the UAE and a subsidiary of the General Holding Corporation (Senaat), has signed a strategic deal with the Finnish company, Ecofer Technologies.

The agreement, due to take effect in 2020, will provide Emirates Steel with sustainable slag management services for the next 10 years, in line with the company’s long-term commitment and objective of eventually producing zero waste.

Under this new agreement, Ecofer will process slag from Emirates Steel’s electric arc furnace and ladle furnace, stated Emirates Steel’s CEO Engineer Saeed Al Remeithi after signing the deal with  Ecofer Technologies managing partner Ismail Fahmy at the company’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

The slag, which will be crushed down to one to five millimetre granules, will be sold as raw product for the construction industry, after any remaining metals have been extracted from the slag.

In addition to waste slag, Ecofer will also process refractory, heat-resistant materials which are exhausted during manufacturing.

"As one of the largest integrated manufacturers of finished steel products in the region, we produce 800,000 tonnes of slag annually, and we are committed to finding ways to mitigate our impact on the environment," remarked Al Remeithi.

"By deploying advanced technological solutions, such as those offered by Ecofer, we will be processing 800,000 tonnes per year, so over the first two years we will process around 1.6 million tonne of slag," he added.
 
Al Remeithi stated that Emirates Steel was aiming to further reduce the company’s environmental footprint and enhance its manufacturing and sustainable practices, with the long-term objective of eventually producing zero waste.

"Our partnership with Ecofer falls in line with our vision of becoming a world-class steel manufacturer that provides the highest quality products, services and solutions to customers, whilst promoting sustainable solutions at the core of our business.” he added.

With this new agreement, Emirates Steel’s slag will be processed and recycled more efficiently. This will enable the company to continue delivering high quality products at competitive costs to customers around the world, while further enhancing the sustainability of its operations by facilitating the reuse of slag as construction material.

Emirates Steel has been recycling its electric arc furnace (EAF) slag product since 2014, producing roughly 2,800,000 tonnes of EAF slag over the past five years and successfully selling it for use in the construction industry.

Fahmy said: "It is our pleasure to sign this agreement with Emirates Steel, and be able to partner with such a significant player in the heavy metals sector."

"This initiative, our first partnership in the UAE, is part of our expanding global business strategy, as we make strategic partnerships across the Middle East, following our first successful agreement with Ezz Steel in Egypt earlier this year. We are proud to sign this deal with Emirates Steel today," he  added.

EAF slag is a byproduct of steel manufacturing and when efficiently recycled has many uses within the construction and road industry due to its mechanical properties, strength, wear resistance and shape.

Emirates Steel said it has successfully used its EAF slag in recent road construction within the company’s complex.

Moreover, it has successfully used in manufacturing hollow blocks and interlocking blocks, which are used to build walkways within the company’s complex, it added.-TradeArabia News Service