Chinese steelmaker HBIS Iron and Steel plans to invest $140mn in upgrading the blast furnace (BF) at its Serbian subsidiary to make it more environmentally friendly.
Vladan Mihajlovic, executive director for production at HBIS, told the local media that the funds will be used to implement changes at its plant in Smederevo. A major part of the project involves the construction of a furnace, which will use blast furnace (BF) gas as fuel, instead of coal. The company will also build a BF reservoir to operate the new furnace.
HBIS Serbia produces 2.2mn mt of steel products annually, consisting of hot-rolled strip and coil as well as cold-rolled strip and coils. It has operated the Smederevo plant since 2016 after the Chinese steelmaker bought the site from Zelezara.