International steel and vertically-integrated company NLMK Group has signed a five-year contract for the supply of raw materials to the production facilities of Eurocement group.
The contract, which runs until the end of 2022, covers a supply of up to 5Mta of raw materials to seven Eurocement Group companies. The raw materials that will be supplied include iron-containing additives and granulated slag from NLMK Lipetsk, chalk and clay from Stoilensky in Belgorod region and limestone screenings from Stagdok in Lipetsk region.
These by-products from NLMK Group operations will be used as primary feedstock and additives for cement production at Eurocement group’s facilities. By-products supplied from Stoilensky will fully satisfy Oskolcement’s demand for chalk, while Stagdok will supply the limestone that Lipetsk Cement requires.
Ilya Guschin, NLMK Group’s VP for Sales, said: “NLMK Group has been working with Eurocement group for several years, on short-term contracts. This new long-term agreement has taken our partnership to a new level: it will make our relationship more open and structured, simplify clearing and settlement and reduce the risk of changes in the market impacting the supply of materials. We are delighted to have a partner as reliable as Eurocement group and will work to develop our relationship even further.”
Eurocement President, Mikhail Skorokhod, said: “NLMK Group has proved itself to be a reliable partner, which guarantees stable and timely deliveries to our Group’s facilities. This long-term foundation to our relationship with NLMK opens new horizons for us, ensuring an uninterrupted supply of raw materials for cement production by our plants on extremely favourable terms. The new agreement allows us to continue the implementation of our cost-cutting programme and will bolster the efficiency of our business”.
Technical specialists at NLMK Group and Eurocement group are exploring new ways to utilise fine steelmaking slag in the construction industry, such as the possible substitution of limestone with slag in the production of clinker, an intermediate product in cement production.
