The completion and opening of the direct reduction plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 2016, marked a milestone for the voestalpine Group in its task of securing pre-materials on a long-term basis. After finishing the six-month run-up phase, together with successful completion of all the performance tests, the plant became fully operational on April 1, 2017. As a result, starting in the business year 2017/18, the plant will produce 2MT of high-quality HBI (hot briquetted iron, or sponge iron) annually.
The new direct reduction plant in Corpus Christi produced the first tonnes of high-quality sponge iron on September 28, 2016, with the start of test operations. Many customers in the NAFTA region and Europe, as well as voestalpine’s Austrian sites in Linz and Donawitz, have already started receiving shipments of the pre-material from Texas in late 2016. On April 1, 2017, the plant shifted to regular production, and recorded a positive result even in its first month of operation, both in terms of profit from operations (EBIT), and operating result (EBITDA).
The plant in Texas paves the way for voestalpine to secure steel production at its Austrian sites, and to reduce CO2-emissions in the steel production process.
