Sidernet mulls new waste processing plant

Argentine service provider for the steel industry, Sidernet, is considering building a new plant in the country to process more blast furnace waste into soil additives, Enrique Strobelt, head of services at the company, told BNamericas. The plant, using European technology, would process up to 3,000t a month of material into additives to correct soil pH levels and provide nutrients. Studies are underway, Strobelt said, without disclosing when a decision would be made. With environmental controls tightening, demand for service providers to take care of steelmakers' wastes is also on the rise. "All mills are taking measures to take care of the environment and recycling waste material from their blast furnaces and melting shops," he said at the Latin American Iron & Steel congress in Rio de Janiero Sunday. Sidernet - owned 50:50 by Argentina's Techint and French group Novobra - can process up to 90,000t a month of slag and other waste produced in steel mills. The company already has contracts with local steelmakers Acindar and Siderca, as well as Mexico's Tamsa, and is now pushing into the Brazilian market. "Project Brazil is with Belo Horizonte-based company MRR, which will provide the equipment and Sidernet will come in with the know-how," said Strobelt. The company has placed a bid to provide services to Ouro Branco, Minas Gerais-based long steelmaker Acominas, owned by the Porto Alegre steel group Gerdau (NYSE: GGB). "Gerdau has also asked us to make a study of a new mill they are planning for Sao Paulo, slated to open in March 2005," Strobelt said. Sidernet's services include taking care of waste material from the blast furnace and melting shop, as well as equipment maintenance. The company also sells processed slag, which is going for 8-10 reais (US$2.51-3.51) a tonne. Srobelt declined to divulge the company's revenue from last year.