MIDREX® Direct Reduction Plants 2022 OPERATIONS SUMMARY

MIDREX^® Plants produced 73.56 million tons (Mt) of direct reduced iron (DRI) in 2022, which is 3.8% more than the 70.85 Mt produced in 2021. The production total for 2022 was calculated from the 43.42 Mt confirmed by MIDREX Plants located outside of Iran and the estimated 30.14 Mt for MIDREX Plants in Iran, based on production data for Iran reported by the World Steel Association (WSA). Over 10 Mt of hot DRI (HDRI) were produced by MIDREX Plants, which were consumed in nearby steel shops to assist them in reducing their energy consumption per ton of steel produced and increasing their productivity.

MIDREX Plants have produced a cumulative total of more than 1.32 billion tons of all forms of DRI (cold DRI, CDRI; hot DRI, HDRI; and hot briquetted iron, HBI) through the end of 2022.

MIDREX Technology continued to account for ~80% of worldwide production of DRI by shaft furnaces in 2022. At least seven MIDREX Modules* established new annual production records and at least six established new monthly production records. Twelve additional modules came within 10% of their record annual production and 14 operated more than 8,000 hours.

The Venezuelan plants (COMSIGUA, Ferrominera Orinoco, Sidor, and Venprecar) operated during 2022 at reduced capacities, but production details were not made available. No detailed production information has been received from the plants in Iran. The following plants did not operate in 2022 due to commercial or market conditions: ArcelorMittal Point Lisas, ArcelorMittal South Africa, Delta Steel, ESISCO, Lion DRI, and Tuwairqi Steel Mills.

* A MIDREX Plant can include one or more modules

NEW PLANT CONTRACTS

Midrex and Paul Wurth were selected by H2 Green Steel to supply the world’s first commercial 100% hydrogen DRI plant as part of an integrated DRI-EAF facility in Boden, Sweden. H2 Green Steel will produce green steel, reducing CO₂ emissions by up to 95% compared to traditional steelmaking by replacing coal with green hydrogen powered by renewable electricity.

H2 Green Steel’s 2.1 million tons per year (Mt/y) MIDREX H2^TM plant will be designed to simultaneously produce hot DRI (HDRI) for use in the adjacent EAF as well as hot briquetted iron (HBI) for export. The plant will include the latest innovation from Midrex, an electric heater for the recirculating hydrogen gas, designed and supplied in partnership with Tutco SureHeat of the Flex-Tek Group, a division of the UK-based engineering company Smiths Group plc. The MIDREX H2 plant is expected to begin production in 2025 and ramp up during 2026.

ALGERIAN QATARI STEEL (AQS)

After starting up in March 2021 during the pandemic, AQS continued ramping up production in 2022 to meet its steel shop’s requirements. AQS set monthly production records three times throughout the year to reach an average 300 tons per hour (t/h) in November, as well as setting a new annual production record.

ANTARA STEEL MILLS

The first MIDREX HBI Module that started up in August 1984 operated 20% over its annual rated capacity and beat its previous annual production record set in 2004 by almost 1%. Total iron in its HBI was the highest of all MIDREX Plants, averaging 92.56% for the year. All production was shipped by water to third parties.

ARCELORMITTAL ACINDAR

In its 44th year of operation, Acindar’s module operated the whole year below maximum capacity due to local market conditions in Argentina, averaging over 95% metallization in its product. Acindar has achieved the most production from a 5.5-meter MIDREX Shaft Furnace to date, with over 33 Mt of CDRI produced.

ARCELORMITTAL CANADA 1 & 2

In its 45th anniversary year, Module 2 produced over 1 Mt, operating 8,326 hours in the year. The combined production from both modules was over 90% of their 2018 production record.

ARCELORMITTAL HAMBURG

The longest-serving MIDREX Module operated at reduced capacity through September and was shut down for the remainder of the year due to high natural gas prices in Europe.

ARCELORMITTAL LÁZARO CARDENAS

In its 25th anniversary year, AMLC produced 19% over its annual rated capacity of 1.2 Mt using mostly oxide pellets made in the adjacent pellet plant. Its 6.5-meter reduction furnace has produced a total of over 37.5 Mt of CDRI, the most by a single module to date.

ARCELORMITTAL POINT LISAS

All three MIDREX Modules remained shut down throughout the year.

ARCELORMITTAL SOUTH AFRICA
(SALDANHA WORKS)

This COREX^® export-gas-based MxCol^® Plant was idled in January 2020 and remained shut down throughout 2022.

ARCELORMITTAL TEXAS HBI

The ArcelorMittal Texas 2.0 Mt/y HBI module located near Corpus Christi, Texas, USA, established a new annual production record in 2022, as well as a new monthly production record in April. In July 2022, ArcelorMittal completed the acquisition of an 80% stake in the HBI plant from voestalpine AG (Austria).

ARCELORMITTAL/NIPPON STEEL INDIA

In the 30th anniversary year for Module 3, AM/NS India’s Modules 1, 2 and 3 operated above rated capacity, and Module 2 surpassed the 15-Mt production milestone. More than 91% of the output from the four HDRI/HBI modules was in the form of HDRI. Modules 1 and 6 produce CDRI exclusively. All six modules combined have produced over 86 Mt of HDRI, HBI, and CDRI since start-up of the first two modules in 1990. Modules 5 and 6 operated using CO2-scrubbed off-gas from AM/NS’s COREX Plant for over 22% of their energy input.

CLEVELAND-CLIFFS

In its second full year of operation, Cliffs continued to increase production and set a new annual production record that was 6.4% over its rated capacity, with annual average metallization levels exceeding 95%. Utilizing oxide pellets from its own mines, the 1.6 Mt/y plant located in Toledo, Ohio, produces HBI mainly for consumption by internal Cleveland-Cliffs steel plants.

COMSIGUA

The MIDREX HBI plant operated during 2022 at reduced capacities, but production details were not made available.

DELTA STEEL

The two modules in Nigeria did not operate in 2022.

DRIC

In their 15th anniversary year, both DRIC modules in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, operated above rated capacity and set a new combined module production record of 1.15 Mt. Module 2 set a new annual production record operating 8,600 hours, and output from Module 1 was within 2% of its annual production record. Both modules set new monthly production records.

ESISCO

After shutting down in early March of 2020, Beshay Steel’s MIDREX Plant remained shut down throughout 2022.

EZDK

In its 25th anniversary year of operation, EZDK’s Module 2 operated 8,595 hours with over 95% metallization in its product. Production was above rated capacity in all three modules and higher than in previous years, within 6% of their multi-module production record set in 2011. Module 3 surpassed the 20-Mt production milestone, and the three modules combined have produced over 70 Mt to date. The average hours of operation for all three modules was 8,261 hours in 2022.

FERROMINERA ORINOCO

The MIDREX HBI plant operated during 2022 at reduced capacities, but production details were not made available.

JINDAL SHADEED

Jindal Shadeed’s HOTLINK^® Plant established a new annual production record of 1.82 Mt, which is 21.4% over its rated capacity of 1.5 Mt. Of the 1.82 Mt, 1.75 Mt (96.1%) were consumed as HDRI in their steel shop that is physically attached to the DR Plant. Jindal Shadeed operated 8,315 hours in the year and over 8,200 hours per year on average for the full 12 years since its initial start-up. The single module plant, located in Sohar, Oman, is designed to produce mostly HDRI, with HBI as a secondary product stream.

JSPL (ANGUL)

In 2022, Jindal Steel and Power Limited’s (JSPL) MxCol® Plant in Angul, Odisha State, India, came within 9% of its annual production record set in 2021, during its eighth year of operation. This is the first MxCol Plant using synthesis gas from coal gasifiers to produce both HDRI and CDRI for the adjacent steel shop. HDRI production was 55% of total production, and Coke Oven Gas (COG) use in the DR plant continued throughout the year, averaging ~19% of the plant’s energy requirements.

JSW Steel’s module producing CDRI handily exceeded rated capacity and operated over 8,200 hours. Approximately 10% of this plant’s energy input is Coke Oven Gas (COG) injected into the shaft furnace to reduce Natural Gas consumption. JSW Steel (Dolvi) has averaged 8,032 hours of operation per year since its initial start-up in 1994, and 8,168 hours per year in the last seven years.

JSW STEEL (TORANAGALLU)

JSW Steel’s HDRI/CDRI module in Toranagallu, Karnataka State, India, using COREX export gas as energy input, operated 8,072 hours and increased its production compared to 2021, although limited by the availability of COREX export gas.

LEBEDINSKY GOK

In the 15th anniversary year of Module 2 and 5th anniversary year of Module 3, LGOK’s MIDREX HBI Modules located in Gubkin, Russia, both operated above rated capacity, with Module 2 breaking its annual production record through increased production rate and 8,128 hours of operation in the year. Module 3 holds the record for the highest annual production by an HBI module and from a 7.0-meter MIDREX Shaft Furnace, with over 2.0 Mt, set in 2020. Having started up in March 2017, with a rated capacity of 1.8 Mt/y, Module 3 surpassed the 10-Mt production milestone in April 2022, averaging just under 2.0 Mt/y. LGOK HBI-1 is an HYL plant.

LION DRI

The Lion DRI module, located near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, remained shut down throughout 2022 due to competition from foreign steel products.

LISCO

Production by LISCO’s two DRI modules and one HBI module in Misurata, Libya, showed improvement but continued to be restricted by factors outside the company’s control. In its 25th anniversary year, Module 3, producing HBI mainly for export, ramped up production to ~75% of capacity, reaching within 4% of its monthly production record in December.

NU-IRON

Nucor’s module in Trinidad and Tobago reported production of CDRI that exceeded 1.4 Mt in 2022, despite downtime caused mainly by outside sources. Average metallization for the year was the highest of all MIDREX Plants at over 96.3%, with 2.73% carbon in the DRI.

OEMK

Thirty-five years after the start-up of Modules 3 and 4, OEMK’s four MIDREX Modules surpassed the 80-Mt production milestone in the first quarter of 2022, with Modules 1, 3 and 4 averaging over 8,400 hours of operation. Modules 1 and 4 came within 1% of their respective annual production records, and Module 2 set a new monthly production record in March.

QATAR STEEL

After being shut down since March 2020, Qatar Steel’s dual product (CDRI/HBI) Module 2 was restarted in January 2022, due to improved but limited demand for its steel products. In its 15th anniversary year, Module 2 operated 8,188 hours, exceeded its rated capacity, surpassed the 20-Mt production milestone, and exported some CDRI and HBI. Module 1 was shut down for most of 2022. Qatar Steel’s Module 1 has produced over 28.3 Mt of CDRI since its initial start-up in 1978, the most for a 5.0-meter shaft furnace.

SIDOR

No production information was made available.

SULB

SULB’s 1.5 Mt/y combination module (simultaneous HDRI/CDRI production) in Bahrain operated at 95% of rated capacity, with over 150,000 tons of CDRI exported by sea, and 87% of the DRI consumed by the adjacent steel shop delivered in the form of HDRI.

TENARISSIDERCA

TenarisSiderca’s CDRI module in Argentina operated the entire year (with the customary shutdown in winter due to Natural Gas supply restrictions) to satisfy the DRI demand from its steel shop. The module’s average DRI metallization percentage for the year was the second highest of all MIDREX Plants at 95.50%.

TOSYALI ALGERIE

Tosyali Holding’s 2.5 Mt/y combination (HDRI/CDRI) module, located in Bethioua, near Oran, Algeria, produced just 4% less than its annual production record set in 2021, and set a new monthly production record in November 2022. Over 71% of production went to the adjacent steel shop as HDRI. Together with Algerian Qatari Steel (AQS), this is the largest capacity MIDREX Module built to date, with a 7.5 m diameter shaft furnace.

TUWAIRQI STEEL MILLS

The 1.28 Mt/y combination module of Tuwairqi Steel Mills, located near Karachi, Pakistan, did not operate in 2022 due to market conditions.

VENPRECAR

The MIDREX HBI plant operated during 2022 at reduced capacities, but production details were not made available.

(Editor’s note: all tons are metric tons)