Operations
Ruukki's ferrochrome and alloys operations comprise the following companies:
Türk Maadin Sirketi A.S. (“TMS”)
TMS carries out open pit and underground mining and beneficiation operations (crushing and separating ore into valuable and non-valuable substances) at three locations in Turkey: Kavak, Tavas and Fethiye. TMS produces two chrome ore types: lumpy chrome ore, which is supplied directly to speciality stainless steel manufacturers in Switzerland and Turkey, and chromite concentrate, which is supplied to Ruukki group company RCS Limited.
Elektrowerk Weisweiler GmbH (“EWW”)
Chromite concentrate from both Ruukki’s Turkish mines and external parties is supplied via RCS Limited (see below) to EWW for processing in Germany through a long-term (5+5 years) toll manufacturing agreement between Ruukki and EWW. The German plant produces specialised low carbon and ultralow carbon ferrochrome products which are sold to end-customers by RCS Limited for the use in specialty stainless steel grades, e.g. in the aviation and power plant industries.
RCS Limited (“RCS”)
Located in Valletta, Malta, RCS is Ruukki’s procurement, sales and marketing division for the minerals business. RCS purchases ferro-silico-chrome from ENRC (Kazakhstan), obtains chromite concentrate from TMS and supplies both to EWW under the terms of the tolling agreement. RCS then sells specialised products produced by EWW, including low carbon and ultralow carbon ferrochrome and associated materials, to its customers worldwide, mainly to producers of special grades of stainless steel. RCS also began to sell some of Mogale’s (see below) products in 2009.
Mogale Alloys (Pty) Ltd (“Mogale”)
Mogale, the South African minerals company, operates from Krugersdorp in Gauteng. It has a smelting factory with a total smelting capacity of 96MVA:
- one 44MVA DC plasma-arc furnace with a production capacity of 50,000 tonnes of chromium-iron-nickel alloy (stainless steel alloy) per annum. It also processes ferrochrome (charge chrome);
- two open 20MVA submerged arc furnaces with a combined capacity of 48,000 tonnes of silico manganese per annum; and
- one 12MVA DC furnace with a capacity of 12,000 tonnes of high grade chromium-iron-nickel alloy per annum.
The Mogale production facilities include DC arc furnace technology, co-developed with Mintek, South Africa’s national mineral research organisation, and independently further developed in recent years. Mogale sells to steel/stainless steel manufacturers worldwide, including Columbus and Arcelor Mittal in South Africa.
Mogale also has the right to a non-controlling 33% stake in Nuco Chrome Bophuthatswana that has certain chrome ore resources in South Africa. However, this transaction has not been completed and the parties are under follow-up negotiations the outcome of which is currently unknown.