10,000 tons of project cargo, including 2,200 tons of structural steel for HBI plant

BBC Zarate, carrying the first structural shipment for voestalpine’s new Texan plant, arrived Monday morning (Aug. 18) at Port Corpus Christi.

The shipment included of 2,200 tons of structural steel undefined welded steel columns, frames, beams and bracings undefined for the reformer building and the furnace tower. The total weight of the project cargo is about 10,000 tons, Port Corpus Christi said in a statement.

Austrian steelmaker voestalpine is building a US$750 million hot briquetted iron (HBI) plant at Port Corpus Christi’s La Quinta Trade Gateway. HBI is a key material in the raw steelmaking process.

When completed, the voestalpine plant will have the capacity to produce 2 million tons per year of HBI. About half of the HBI will be exported to voestalpine’s plants in Linz and Donawitz, Austria.  The rest will be sold to international customers and used to supply voestalpine’s strategic reserves.

The plant will be fueled by natural gas from the South Texas Eagle Ford Shale.  Production is expected to start in the first quarter of 2016.

*NEWS SOURCE