It is reported that a USD 700 million Greenfield investment by billionaire Mr Viktor Pinchuk will soon bring Ukraine already one of the world top 10 metals producers its first brand new steel mill of significant size since Soviet times.

Company officials said that cold testing of equipment in idle operation has already started at the Dnipropetrovsk based steel smelting plant.

Mr Alexandr Kirichko general director of Interpipe said “The beginning of these cold tests demonstrates that we have made another step towards the realization of a large scale project. For our company it is a new step in the testing of equipment. For the country, it is a principally new method of metallurgical production.”

A formal launch is scheduled for March of next year with production levels gradually being churned up to 1.3 million tonnes of steel per annum by 2014.

Italy Danieli a leading producer of metallurgic turn key equipment and technology was hired in 2007 to build the mill. It will consume eight times less natural gas per tonne of steel than existing gas guzzling steel furnaces.

Mr Oleksandr Makarov steel analyst at Kyiv based investment bank Dragon Capital said Interpipe cost of producing steel billets using electric arc technology is about USD 100 per tonne less expensive compared to its open hearth furnace He said that “The cost saving includes 2.2 times lower energy consumption, lower melting loss and four-fold higher working efficiency.”

Dniprostal will gradually replace an open hearth production facility in Dnipropetrovsk operated by Interpipe reducing dust emissions by 2.5 times. The electric arc furnace will also lower noise levels to municipal levels and reduce industrial waste into the nearby Dnipro River.

(Sourced from www.kyivpost.com)