For the first time in its 62 years of history, Dongkuk Steel became a blast-furnace steel maker with its CSP Steel Plant in Ceara State, Brazil, going online for the first time on June 10. Vice Chairman Chang Sae-wook lit the blast furnace, which is some 100 meters tall, marking an occasion that will go down in history as the first blast-furnace steel mill built and operated by a Korean steelmaker in Brazil.
In his speech at the ceremony to dedicate the new steel plant, Vice Chairman Chang said the CSP blast furnace steel plant is the realization of the Dongkuk family’s dream going back three generations, and an achievement of the promise to build the blast furnace steel plant in Brazil. He went on to say that the new steel mill will be one of the best in the world, realizing the steel maker’s spirit to grow together with the local community. He said Dongkuk Steel and POSCO will enter the history books as the first Korean steelmaker to enter Brazil to build and operate a blast furnace steel plant.
The steelmaker has led the $5.5 billion CSP Steel Mill construction project since 2012 with two other partners for financing — POSCO and Brazil-based Vale, the world’s largest iron ore mining company.
Shareholders of the joint venture firm CSP Steel Mill are composed of POSCO, Dongkuk Steel and Vale, with their shareholdings divided to 50 percent, 30 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
Dongkuk is responsible for operating the mill with an annual production capacity of 3 million tons, and it secures 160 tons of the annual production for direct use in Korea or exports. “The CSP Steel Mill project will play a key role in transforming the company into a global steelmaker, a company spokesman said. Established in 2008, CSP (Companhia Sider rgica do Pec m) is a local joint venture between Dongkuk Steel, Vale of Brazil and POSCO. It is an integrated steel works located in Pecem Industrial Complex in Fortaleza, Ceara, in the northeastern part of Brazil.
The steelmaker first conceived the idea to build a steel mill in iron-ore rich Brazil back in 2005 and it took 11 years for the idea to become a reality. Construction began four years ago.. The new steel plant has become a symbol of economic cooperation between Korea and Brazil, with Vale Co. of Brazil joining the Dongkuk Steel and POSCO as an investor in the new steel complex. Dongkuk Steel will be responsible for planning and taking charge of buying slabs while Vale, with a 50 percent stake in the new steel mill, will take charge of securing iron ore. POSCO will be responsible for technology consultation and running the steel mill. The new steel plant also had the support of Ceara State and the federal government of Brazil in the construction of an exclusive infrastructure in its vicinity including port facilities, power plant and power transformer facilities, roads and portable water supply facilities all at the cost of some $700 million.
Lighting the blast furnace at the CSP Steel plant marks a new era for Dongkuk Steel in the 62 years of its operation.
Dongkuk Steel took over a small furnace from Samwha Steel in 1965 and has three steel plants in Korea. They turn out 3.6 million tons of steel from electric furnaces using scrap iron. With the CSP Steel Plant going on line, Dongkuk Steel has become the third largest steel maker in Korea after POSCO and Hyundai Steel.
Dongkuk Steel plans to import 1.6 million tons of steel slabs from CSP Steel Plant annually and use 1 million tons of them to produce steel plates, which the steel maker has been unable to as it doesn’t have a blast furnace at its steel plants in Korea and sell 600,000 tons of the steel slabs at the steel maker overseas. Dongkuk Steel plans to produce various heat-treated steel plates with the steel slabs imported from its Brazilian affiliate, including those for crude oil pipelines, for industrial plants, and for boilers, among others.
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Vice Chairman Chang Sae-wook fire-up the blast furnace to put CSP Steel Plant to go online during the ceremony to celebrate the new steel plant’s operation on June 10 at the Pecem Industrial Complex in N.E. Brazil where the new steel plant is located.(Photos:Donguk Steel)
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