Azerbaijan starts exporting steel

The Azerbaijani steel producer, Azerbaijan Steel Production Complex (ASPC), reports that the country is starting to export steel, transforming from importing steel products to exporting them. According to the management of ASPC, this process will contribute to improving the efficiency of the Dashkesan GOK (DMC), which will lead to an increase in the quality and volumes of ore extraction, as well as the creation of a production complex for the production of steel in Ganja.

The resource of DMC is about 270 million tons of ore with 40% iron content. In other words, the iron reserves in the region reach 100 million tons, which is enough for development over 80-100 years. DMC is capable of producing 350,000 tonnes of 65% iron ore concentrate, but plans to increase production to 750,000 tonnes by the end of this year. And by 2018, the construction of the Complex's plants should be completed, which will increase the production of pig iron to 1.7 million tons per year.

140 hectares of land have been allocated to ASPC for the construction of a steel production complex in Ganja. The production of this facility should provide a replacement for imports of steel and steel utensils. According to the estimates of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, now the import of steel reaches the amount of the order of $ 1.2-1.3 billion per year.

The Metallurgical Complex in Ganja will be built in accordance with advanced technologies and standards, providing a high level of automation. The factories are planned to be equipped with equipment made in Japan and Europe. The complex plans to achieve an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tons of steel products that will meet high quality standards and are primarily intended for domestic consumption in construction, shipbuilding, oil and gas industry, defense industry and other purposes of the country.

The construction of the Complex will also lead to an improvement in the standard of living in the region, as a total of 5,000 people will be provided with jobs, and permanent jobs will be created for 2,500-2700 people. In addition, the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is currently underway, which ASPC plans to use to supply products for export to Georgia and the eastern regions of Turkey. The payback period for the investment in the construction of the complex is expected to be about 4 years.