Metallics sector foresees growth ahead

Dec 31, 2012 | 12:00 PM | Catherine Ngai

Tags  IIMA, Frank Griscom, Stuart Horner, metallics, DRI, HBI, pig iron, scrap supplement Nucor

NEW YORK — The metallics sector foresees growth in the years ahead on the back of technological advancements, affordable natural gas and renewed interest from steelmakers.

Metallics—including pig iron, hot-briquetted iron (HBI) and direct-reduced iron (DRI)—might be unconventional raw materials for steelmaking, but considerable technological advancements in the past decade have created renewed interest and even market investment on the promise of a good return, sources said.

"Over the years, we have, through market development activities and seminars, tried to increase the perception of these raw materials," International Iron Metallics Association (IIMA) secretary-general Frank Griscom told AMM. "They’re not just a source of iron. We want people to look at these materials in light of the overall charge mix they’re putting into their furnaces and how to achieve the specs and how to achieve the lowest-cost liquid steel. These ore-based metallics ... have piggybacked on the movement of the electric furnace for higher-quality steels."....