Harsco Signs $160 Million Iron-from-Slag Contract with Essar Steel

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Harsco India (NYSE:HSC) (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania) has signed a $160 million, 15-year contract with Essar Steel's (Mumbai, India) Hazira plant for the recovery of iron from slag generated in the steelmaking process. The recovered iron will then be re-used in steel production.

Aiming at becoming a "zero waste" company, Essar (Hazira) has been using the slag to make a range of construction materials. The Harsco process will eliminate the iron content from the slag, with the depleted slag still being used in paver blocks, cement mix construction, road backfill, road-laying and brick-making. Essar generates about 1 million tons of slag annually.

The agreement is Harsco's third major contract in India in the past six months, following contracts with JSW Steel (BSE:500228) and Jindal Stainless Limited (BSE:532508) (Haryana). The company has projected revenues of $500 million in the Indian steel sector in the next 10 to 15 years.

Hazira is the world's fourth-largest single-site steel plant, with an annual production capacity of 10 million tons.

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