Dutch mining and metallurgical holding Metinvest B.V. (Metinvest) can create carbon-neutral metallurgy in Ukraine. Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest, spoke about this during an interview within the framework of the KPMG International survey “View of business leaders in Ukraine 2021”.
“We want to process the iron ore that we mine in Kryvyi Rih so that it can be reduced to direct reduction iron. We are talking about rolling with an iron content of more than 90%, which will later be used in electrometallurgy to obtain new clean steel, ”said the top manager of Metinvest.
By combining this technology with renewable energy sources that can be actively developed in the East of Ukraine, on the coasts of the Azov and Black Seas, Metinvest plans to create a carbon-neutral metallurgy in Ukraine.
“We have already taken the first steps on this path: last year the company received the first high-quality pellets at the Central GOK - DRI-class pellets (direct reduced iron). Next in line is Severny GOK. We started with the preparation of raw materials and from about 2026 we will already start metallurgical production. We plan to produce the first steel with a low carbon footprint in 2029-2030, ”Ryzhenkov explained.
In particular, he noted that electrometallurgy still exists in Ukraine, but it is based on scrap metal, which is chronically lacking both in Ukraine and in Europe.
Metinvest has several main areas of development: innovative technologies for the production of carbon steel, the use and storage of CO2, utilization of industrial gases, fuel production, digitalization of industrial processes and related areas.
To implement joint projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the steel industry, Metinvest signed a memorandum of cooperation with K1-MET, a leading Austrian research center in metallurgy.
Metinvest searches for effective solutions for decarbonization of metallurgical production in cooperation with leading manufacturers of equipment for the industry Primetals and Siemens.
