Ispat Iscor has obtained approval from South African environmental authorities for the construction of a new coke oven battery in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, the company announced on Friday.
The plant is expected to enable the company to expand its market coke production by about 450 000 tonnes a year for the domestic ferro-alloy industry, making the sector virtually self-sufficient of imported market coke.
South Africa’s ferro-alloy total market coke demand is one million tonnes a year, of which Ispat Iscor, at present, supplies some 400 000 tonnes produced at its Pretoria and Vanderbijlpark-based coke batteries.
The ferro-alloy industry’s additional requirements are sourced offshore, mainly from China.
By-products will include coke oven gas for in-plant consumption and crude coal tar.
The project, estimated at R450-million, entailed the construction of new materials handling infrastructure for coal and coke, the demolishing and rebuilding of a decommissioned coke oven battery and a major upgrade of the gas cleaning plant at the Newcastle steel works.
The main contract for construction of the coke oven battery and gas plant was awarded to a Chinese industrial consortium, CITIC-ACRE, with about 34% of the expansion programme to be undertaken by South African companies.
Preparation of the site at Newcastle was already under way and construction would be completed by mid-2006, with coke production commencing during the second half of the same year.
About 300 local and 50 foreigners would be involved in the 20-month construction phase of the project with about 70 permanent jobs created for day-to-day operations and maintenance. – Sapa