Mechanical engineering, construction, electrical engineering - all these and many other areas cannot be imagined without metallurgy. What is this industry? How are metals mined? What are they like? The answers to these questions can be found in the article.
Definition
Metallurgy is a direction in industry that is engaged in the extraction of raw materials, the production of alloys, the disposal of waste and the production of products from the obtained alloys.
Metallurgy, depending on the raw materials, is divided into ferrous and non-ferrous. The first group includes metals containing iron, chromium and manganese. To the second - all the rest.
The production process of metal products includes the following steps:
disposal.
mining and preparation of ore;
The metallurgical industry includes processes for obtaining many elements of the periodic table, in addition to gases and halides.
Black
Ferrous metallurgy is a branch of metallurgy that is engaged in the production of alloys from iron, manganese and chromium.
In nature, iron occurs in ore in the form of carbonates, hydroxide and oxide. Therefore, the first stage of production in ferrous metallurgy is the release of iron from ore using a blast furnace at a temperature of more than +1000 C. If necessary, at this stage, the properties of the metal are changed.
Ferrous metallurgy includes such areas as:
- extraction and enrichment of non-metallic raw materials;
- production of ferrous metals;
- production of pipes from steel and cast iron;
- coke industry;
- secondary processing of raw materials.
Products manufactured at metallurgical plants are:
the main, that is, the final product, ready for operation;
by-product, that is, a product that is obtained in the production of the main product;
by-products, that is, the products left after the production of the main and by-products, which are used either as recyclable materials or as they are.
Mining
Metals are obtained by extraction from ores or recycled materials. All ore containing valuable elements is divided into rich (more than 55% of valuable elements), poor (less than 50%) and poor (less than 25%).
There are three main methods used in ore mining:
open;
underground;
combined.
The open method is the most common and economical. With this method, the enterprise organizes the necessary infrastructure and develops the deposit with quarries.
The underground method is used if the rocks lie deep underground. Compared to open, this method is more expensive due to the need for special technical equipment. In addition, it is more relevant than other methods, since the reserves of iron ore, which occurs close to the surface, are practically depleted. More than 70% of iron ore is mined in this way.
The combined method, as the name implies, combines the two above methods.
Production
In metallurgy, the production of ferrous metals is understood as a complex technological process, which can be divided into two stages:
iron production;
processing iron into steel.
The necessary materials for the production of pig iron are iron ore, fuel (coke) and flux. It is in this order that they are loaded into blast furnaces, where, under the weight of their own mass, they sink to the bottom of the furnace. In the lower part of the furnace there are holes - firms through which heated air is supplied to maintain the combustion process. As a result of smelting, iron and other elements are reduced from the ore, and the slag and cast iron obtained in the process are poured through special holes - slag and cast iron tapholes.
The process of converting iron into steel involves reducing the level of carbon and impurities by selective oxidation and transferring them to slag during smelting. To do this, ferroalloys containing Al, Mn and Si are introduced into molten cast iron. They form sparingly soluble oxides in steel, which partially float into the slag.
Products
Ferrous metallurgy products are widely used in mechanical engineering, construction, public utilities, the military-industrial complex and agriculture.
The main products of ferrous metallurgy include:
pig iron and foundry;
refractories;
chemical products.
rolled metal (sheet, shaped, sectional);
finished rental;
color
Non-ferrous metallurgy includes all types of metals, except for iron-containing ones. The industry itself is divided into metallurgy of light and heavy metals, which are based on metal properties such as density and weight. All types of metals used in non-ferrous metallurgy can be divided into:
lungs, which include magnesium, aluminum, titanium;
heavy, which include tin, zinc, lead, nickel, copper;
rare earths, which include erbium, terbium, samarium, praseodymium, neodymium, lanthanum, dysprosium, cerium, yttrium;
artificial, which include americium, technetium;
small, which include mercury, cobalt, arsenic, antimony, cadmium, bismuth;
scattered, which include selenium, germanium, thallium, indium, gallium, zirconium;
alloying, which include vanadium, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, tungsten;
noble, which include platinum, gold, silver.
Compared to ferrous, non-ferrous metallurgy is more energy-intensive. This is due to the low content of useful substances in non-ferrous metals and, as a result, big amount waste requiring special disposal and processing by chemical means.
Extraction of raw materials and its enrichment
Non-ferrous metals are obtained from ore concentrate, that is, from enriched ore. Beneficiation is understood as the separation of ore into metals and minerals, which makes it possible to artificially increase the content of metals in raw materials. Separation uses technologies such as crushing, grinding, sorting and processing by dehydration. After receiving the metal from the ore, it is processed and polished.
After all these processes, the metal is sent to workshops or enterprises where the necessary products will be manufactured - machine tools, pipes, machines, etc.
Refining
Ferrous metals contain various impurities that affect the physicochemical properties of metals, and also contain important expensive elements, such as gold or silver. Therefore, one of milestones metal processing is refining, that is, cleaning. Refining is carried out in three ways:
electrolytic - used for deep cleaning of non-ferrous metals;
chemical, which is also called refining, is used when deep cleaning gold;
pyrometallurgical - used in the production of high purity metals and is divided into fractional, segregation, oxidative refining.
Receiving alloys
An alloy is a substance consisting of two or more metals and non-metals, such as carbon, phosphorus, arsenic.
Alloys are not made from two similar metals. For example, zinc and lead.
The most valuable alloys are:
- long products - hexagon, bar, wire;
- sheet metal - strip, tape, sheet.
bronze - a compound of copper and tin;
brass - a compound of copper and zinc;
duralumin - a compound of aluminum, copper, iron, silicon, magnesium and manganese;
tungsten carbide - a compound of tungsten with carbon and cobalt;
nichrome - a compound of nickel, chromium and iron;
alni is a compound of non-magnetic aluminium, nickel and cobalt.
Industry products
To a person who is not close to metallurgy, at the mention of non-ferrous metals, gold and silver are the first to come to mind. Above, the whole variety of non-ferrous metallurgy was considered. Here we will consider the products that are produced in this area. This:
In addition to the profile, chemical products are produced at metallurgical plants and combines - chlorine, potash, sulfuric acid, elemental sulfur, zinc and copper sulfate.
Types of bases and factors of their placement
Before considering the main metallurgical bases in the world and in Russia, it is worth briefly describing the types of bases and the factors of their location.
In the metallurgical industry, there are 3 types of bases.
A base that works with its own ore and coal.
A base that works either with its own ore and imported coal, or with imported ore and its own coal.
Operating close to coal fields or close to the consumer.
Factors influencing the location of metallurgical centers include:
consumer, which includes the proximity of large machine-building complexes- the main consumers of steel;
ecological, which includes obsolete enterprises using one of the most “dirty” production methods - the blast furnace process;
transport, which includes enterprises using imported ore and coal, as they are located far from their sources;
fuel, which includes enterprises located near the coal basins;
raw material, which includes enterprises located close to ore locations.
Metallurgy in the world
World metallurgy is concentrated in 98 countries of the world, of which ore is mined only in 50. The leaders are five countries - China, Brazil, Russia, Australia and India, which supply almost 80% of raw materials to the world market. Most of world ore reserves - this is a material of medium and low quality, requiring enrichment in the production process. Rud High Quality very few in the world. For example, the reserves of Russia as one of the leaders in the metallurgical industry account for only 12% of the world's reserves.
Most of the ore is mined in China, and useful iron is mined in Russia.
The leading companies that regulate the global process of mining and production of ores and metals are Arcelor Mittal, Hebei Iron & Steel, Nippon Steel.
Arcelor Mittal is a company formed by the merger of India and Luxembourg. It owns enterprises in 60 countries of the world, including the Russian Severstal-Resource and the Ukrainian Krivorozhstal.
Hebei Iron & Steel Group is another company formed from the merger of several companies. But it is not a private, but a state-owned enterprise registered in China. It produces a unique product - ultra-thin cold-rolled sheet and steel plates. In addition to mining and production, the company is engaged in research activities and investments.
Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Industries are the Japanese leader in steel production. The company's blast furnaces were installed as early as 1857.
Metallurgy of Russia
In the Russian economy, metallurgy ranks second after the oil and gas industry. More than 2% of working citizens in the country work in this area at 1.5 thousand enterprises.
In the Russian Federation, there are three main ferrous metallurgy bases, the location of which is explained by the proximity of ore sources and coal basins:
Ural;
Siberian;
Central.
The oldest and largest metallurgy enterprise is the Urals, where half of all ferrous metallurgy products in Russia are produced. The centers of the Ural metallurgy are Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Tagil, Chelyabinsk and Magnitogorsk. The largest enterprises are the Chusovoy Metallurgical Plant and the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant.
The Siberian metallurgical base is the youngest of the three and is being built to replace the Ural one, where the metal reserves are almost exhausted. Only two large metallurgical plants are located here - Kuznetsk and West Siberian.
The central metallurgical base is located in the Belgorod and Kursk regions. The largest metallurgical plant and plants are the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant and plants in Stary Oskol and Tula.
93% of the output falls on the share of six large centers of metallurgy. This:
PAO Severstal;
JSC "Mechel";
"Evraz";
JSC "Metalloinvest";
OAO Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works;
OAO Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works.
Metallurgy is an industry that plays an important role in the life of every person.
. The metallurgical industry includes ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. The first is engaged in the extraction of ores of ferrous metals (iron, manganese, chromites), the smelting of iron and steel, the production of rolled products and ferroalloys
Non-ferrous metallurgy includes the extraction and enrichment of non-ferrous metal ores, the smelting of metals and alloys, and the production of rolled products. Non-ferrous metals include all other metals, except for the already mentioned ferrous ones. Among the main ones, heavy (copper, lead, zinc, tin, mercury, nickel) and light (aluminum, magnesium, titanium) metals are distinguished. In addition to the main ones, the industry processes alloying (tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium), precious (ash, silver, platinum), rare and scattered (zirconium, germanium, selenium) metals, as well as diamonds, topazes and other minerals.
. Enrichment- this is a production process aimed at increasing the concentration of a useful element in the ore
Ferrous and non-ferrous metals are the main structural materials on which machine building is based
Ferrous metallurgy
Ferrous metallurgy in Ukraine is one of the main industries, has an export orientation
The raw materials for ferrous metallurgy are iron and manganese ores, chromites, as well as ores of some non-ferrous metals (nickel, cobalt, tungsten, etc.), and scrap metal. The main fuels are coke and natural gas. In metallurgical production, limestones and dolomites, refractory clays for furnaces, molding sandstones are also used for flux.
Ferrous metallurgy is characterized by combination and concentration of production. In addition to the main production, the metallurgical plant includes a coking plant, a sinter plant, power plants, a nitrogen fertilizer plant, and a building materials plant.
. Sinter (enriched iron ore) together with coke and fluxes (limestone, which is used to remove harmful compounds from molten iron) is loaded into blast furnaces. Part of the pig iron, which is processed into steel (pig iron), in a liquid state, enters the steel furnaces. The cooled steel in the form of ingots enters the rolling shop, where they are rolled. From the waste of the main production are made Construction Materials, nitrogen fertilizers etc.. That is, at the plant full cycle all stages of the production process are carried out - from ore mining to the release of final products * 4ї. * 4 "
In ferrous metallurgy, in addition to full-cycle combines (big metallurgy), there are processing metallurgy plants that produce only steel (from imported pig iron and scrap metal), rolled metal or ferroalloys. At the fires of ex-machine-building plants there are metallurgical shops (small metallurgy), which produce for own needs steel, iron and steel castings.
Previously, steel was made in open-hearth furnaces, which burn coke to smelt the metal. In 2000-2005, more than 60% of this production was produced by electric furnaces and converters (furnaces where steel is produced directly from iron ore). A new sub-branch of ferrous metallurgy emerged - powder metallurgy.
Geography of ferrous metallurgy
The main factors in the placement of enterprises in the industry in the fuel and raw materials. Processing and small metallurgy are consumer-oriented (large machine-building plants), and steel production in electric furnaces is consumer-oriented.
electricity. The importance for metallurgical enterprises should be the availability of water
In Ukraine, three main areas of ferrous metallurgy have historically formed and are functioning today: Donetsk (13 enterprises),. Priazovsky (five enterprises),. Pridneprovsky (14 enterprises). The first two districts focus mainly on fuel and consumer as well. Dnieper - to deposits of iron and manganese ores, water. Dnieper.
It is the largest producer of ferrous metals and rolled products. Prydniprovsky metallurgical region, where three large industrial centers were formed:. Dneprovsky (Dnepropetrovsk, Dneprodzerzhinsk, Novomoskovsk),. Zaporizhzhya Orizky (Zaporizhstal Zaporizhzhya plants, Dneprospetsstal electric steel-smelting plants, ferroalloy plant) and. Krivorozhsky (quarries, mines and processing plants of iron ores. Krivoy Rog, manganese. Nikopol, as well as metallurgical, pipe and ferroalloy plants in these cities). The Kremenchug knot is in the process of formation. Only works here. Dneprovsky girnichozbagachuval plant, working on ores. Kr emenchutskogo iron ore deposit. Refractory clays are used in factories. Dnieper region from local deposits, and limestone is brought from. Crimea.
Donetsk metallurgical region was formed on the basis of local deposits of high-quality coking coal, limestone, iron ore. Krivoi. Horn and. Nikopol manganese. The largest centers of ferrous metallurgy on. Donbass. Donetsk,. Makeevka,. Alchevsk,. Khartsyzsk. They belong to the largest in Ukraine. Alchevsk plant. Donetsk,. Enakievsky,. Kramatorsk,. Kos-tyantinivsky - metallurgical,. Khartsyzsky and. Ma Kievsky - pipe mills.
Part. The Priazovsky district of ferrous metallurgy includes enterprises. Mariupol, as well as an iron ore deposit and a mining and processing plant in. Kerch. Metallurgy. The Priazovsky district provides metal om to local machine-building enterprises, part of the products is exported to other countries by sea.
Metallurgy is one of the most developed industries in the Russian economy. In terms of importance for the Russian economy, the metallurgical industry ranks second after the oil and gas industry. Metallurgy is divided into ferrous and non-ferrous. In general, in Russian Federation there are about 28,000 different organizations associated with metallurgical production (including organizations associated with the extraction and processing of precious metals). According to statistics, 1 worker employed in steel production provides 25 jobs in related sectors of the economy.
At the end of 2014, about 2.2% of all workers in the country were employed in the metallurgical industry of the Russian Federation, which in quantitative terms is 955 thousand people. It should be noted that the number of employees in this area is decreasing every year. This is due primarily to the automation of the industry and the reorganization of enterprises.
According to the results of 2014, the average salary in the industry was slightly less than 48 thousand rubles. This is almost 1.5 times more than the average salary in Russia. most big salary in the industry are employees of large metallurgical plants.
The share of the metallurgical industry in the country's GDP is 4.7%, while the share of metallurgical production in the Russian industry is 12%. Metallurgical enterprises use about 20% of electricity from the general industrial level, and the share of the metallurgical industry in freight rail transportation is 18.8%.
At the end of 2014, enterprises of the metallurgical industry produced and shipped goods worth more than 4.32 trillion. rubles. This is a record high in the latest Russian history. Compared to 2013, the growth in sales volumes amounted to 8.6%.
Several factors contributed to this. First of all, this is a reduction in the supply of metallurgical products of Ukrainian production. Over the past year, Ukrainian metallurgists have reduced production volumes by 38%. Thus, in the global metal market, demand exceeded supply, and Russian metallurgists took advantage of this, securing new markets for themselves. The second factor is the ruble. Buying the raw materials necessary for production for rubles and receiving part of the proceeds in foreign currency, Russian metallurgists significantly increased theirs. At the end of 2014, the enterprises of the metallurgical complex accounted for 16.7%, the same indicator for the industry in 2013 was 9.9%.
At the end of 2014, the enterprises of the metallurgical industry exported products worth 31.78 billion US dollars. Of these, ferrous metallurgy accounted for 64.5% of exports, non-ferrous metallurgy - 35.5%. Most of the products exported were:
- Pig iron - 4,359 thousand tons;
- Semi-finished products from carbon steel - 13,511 thousand tons;
- Flat-rolled products made of carbon steel - 7,614 thousand tons;
- Raw aluminum - 2,910 thousand tons;
- Ferroalloys - 912 thousand tons;
- Refined copper - 290 thousand tons;
- Raw nickel - 238 thousand tons.
Ferrous metallurgy
Ferrous metallurgy is a branch of heavy industry, which includes the production of iron, steel, rolled products, ferroalloys, as well as the extraction and processing of iron ore and the production of refractories. The structure of the ferrous metallurgy of the Russian Federation includes more than 1.5 thousand enterprises, of which more than 70 are city-forming. This branch of the metallurgical industry employs 2/3 of the workers in Russian metallurgy.
The technological process for producing iron and steel involves the use of iron ore and coking coal. Therefore, in order to reduce the cost of delivering this necessary raw material, metallurgical plants were built in areas rich in these minerals. In Russia, there are three main bases of ferrous metallurgy:
- Ural;
- Central;
- Siberian.
The Ural base is the oldest in Russia and the largest. Now about half of all ferrous metallurgy products of the country are produced here. The Ural metallurgical base is connected with the Kuzbass coal and the Ural iron ore deposits. The centers of metallurgy in the Urals are Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Tagil, Yekaterinburg. The largest enterprises are the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant, the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant, the Chusovoy Metallurgical Plant, etc.
Since the iron ore deposits in the Urals are practically exhausted, the Siberian one is being built to replace the Ural metallurgical base. At the moment, this base is at the stage of formation and is represented by only two large metallurgical enterprises - the Kuznetsk Iron and Steel Works and the West Siberian Iron and Steel Works in Novokuznetsk.
The Central Metallurgical Base uses its own iron ore deposits, which are located in the Kursk and Belgorod regions. Ore mining here is very cheap and mined open way. There is no coal here, but due to the convenient geographical location, the enterprises are supplied with coal from three basins - Donetsk, Pechora and Kuznetsk. The largest enterprises are the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant, Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant, metallurgical plants in Tula and Stary Oskol.
The development of metallurgy in Russia was largely facilitated by the presence of large deposits of iron ore. In terms of the number of iron ore reserves, Russia ranks third in the world, behind Australia and Brazil in this indicator. The explored reserves of iron ore in Russia are about 25 billion tons, which in terms of pure iron is 14 billion tons.
The annual production of iron ore condensate in the Russian Federation over the past 5 years has been approximately 100 million tons. According to this indicator, the Russian Federation ranks 5th in the world, yielding to the leader China, almost 15 times. About a quarter of the iron ore mined in Russia is exported. In 2014, 23 million tons were exported, in 2013 and 2012 - 25.7 and 25.5 million tons, respectively.
The main indicator of the work of ferrous metallurgy is the amount of steel produced. In total, according to the results of 2014, 1,662 million tons were produced in the world. Asia is the undisputed leader in steel production, 1,132 million tons were produced here. The EU produced 169.2 Mt, North America 121.2 Mt and South America 45.2 Mt. The CIS countries reduced steel production compared to 2013 by 2.8%, mainly due to Ukraine, to 105.3 million tons.
The world leader in steel production is China, it is ahead of its closest competitors, the Japanese, by almost 8 times. And the United States of America closes the top three, lagging behind the Chinese by 10 times.
Compared to 2013, global steel production growth was 1.2%. Production growth in China slowed down slightly and amounted to only 0.9% compared to 2013. And the greatest growth was demonstrated by: Poland - 8.4% (from 8 million tons to 8.6) and South Korea - 7.5% (from 66.1 million tons to 71), such an increase in production allowed the Koreans to displace Russia from 5th place. And the largest decline in steel production in 2014 was observed in Ukraine - (-17.1%) to 27.2 million tons.
The growth of steel production in the Russian Federation in 2014 amounted to 2.2%, which is 1% more than the world growth, and this is the seventh growth rate among all countries in the world. The steady growth of Russia's metallurgical production in the context of the crisis and anti-Russian sanctions allows us to hope in 2015 that the record of steel production in the country, which was recorded in 2007 - 72.4 million tons, will be repeated or exceeded in 2015.
Iron production is also the most important indicator of the metallurgical industry. In 2014, 1.18 billion tons of pig iron were produced in the world. As in steel production, Asia occupies a leading position - 911 million tons of manufactured pig iron. EU countries produced - 95.1 million tons, North America– 41.1 million tons, South America- 30.6 million tons. Cast iron production in the CIS countries amounted to 79.55 million tons.
Leading position by a wide margin is also occupied by China. The Japanese, who are in second place, are 9 times behind, and the Indians, who are in third place, are more than 13 times behind.
Global iron production growth was almost the same as steel production - 1.3%. The growth of pig iron production in China was also below the world level and amounted to 1%. And the greatest growth was achieved by South Korea - 12.5%, the largest decline compared to 2013 was recorded in Ukraine - (-15%).
In the Russian Federation, iron production increased by 2.9%. In 2014, the indicator of 2007 was practically reached. In 2015 it is planned to exceed it.
Also, following the results of 2014, the production of finished rolled ferrous metals and coated flat products increased in Russia. During the year, 61.2 million tons of finished black products and 5.8 million tons of coated flat products were produced. The increase in production compared to 2013 amounted to 3.3% and 6.9%, respectively.
The basis of the Russian ferrous metallurgy are 6 large vertically and horizontally integrated holdings, which account for more than 93% of all output.
- PAO Severstal;
- "EVRAZ";
- OAO Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works (NLMK);
- OAO Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK);
- OJSC "Metalloinvest";
- OAO Mechel.
EVRAZ is a vertically integrated steel and mining company founded in 1992. The company has assets in Russia, the USA, Canada, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan and other countries. In 2014, the company's total revenue exceeded $13 billion. In Russia, EVRAZ owns two large metallurgical plants - the West Siberian Iron and Steel Works (ZSMK) and the Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works (NTMK). The share of EVRAZ shares in both enterprises is 100%.
ZSMK is the fifth largest metallurgical plant in Russia, located in Novokuznetsk. This is the easternmost of all Russian metallurgical plants. The plant includes coke-chemical, sinter-lime, steel-smelting, rolling steel-rolling production, and a blast-furnace shop. ZSMK produces more than 100 profiles of various rolled products. The West Siberian Iron and Steel Works is the general supplier of rail products to Russian Railways. At the end of 2014, the plant produced 5.9 million tons of pig iron and 7.5 million tons of steel. More than 22.5 thousand employees work at the enterprise.
NTMK is a metallurgical plant founded in 1940. The main types of products are construction metal-roll (I-beams, channels, angles). According to the results of 2014, the enterprise produced 4.8 million tons of pig iron, 4.2 million tons of steel and more than 2.8 tons of various metal products.
Severstal is one of the main steel producers in Russia. The host is Cherepovets Iron and Steel Works (CherMK). At the end of 2014, Severstal's total steel production amounted to 11.3 million tons, pig iron - 9.1 million. Compared to 2013, these figures increased by 6% and 4%, respectively. The total turnover of the company, including the mining industry, in 2014 amounted to 8.3 billion US dollars. In total, the company employs about 60,000 people.
OJSC Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant is a public company, which includes the third largest metallurgical plant in Russia. OJSC NLMK has assets not only in Russia, but also in European countries and the USA, the company's foreign plants produce rolled metal and finished steel in small volumes. At the end of 2014, NLMK's foreign enterprises produced 0.7 million tons of steel, while Russia produced 15.2 million tons of steel and 12.14 million tons of pig iron. The Russian enterprises of the company employ 56.4 thousand employees.
OJSC "Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works" is the largest metallurgical plant in Russia. The company's assets are a metallurgical complex with a full production cycle. The company supplies products to the domestic Russian market, as well as to the countries of Europe and Asia. At the end of 2014, MMK's production indicators reached record results, 13 million tons of steel and 10.3 million tons of pig iron were produced. The company's total revenue for the past year was just over $7.9 billion. More than 56,000 people work at the enterprises that are part of the MMK structure.
OAO Metalloinvest is a major Russian mining and metallurgical holding. The company includes two large metallurgical enterprises - "Oskolsky Electrometallurgical Plant" and the plant "Ural Steel". The company owns the largest iron ore reserves in the world. The number of employees of OAO Metalloinvest exceeds 62 thousand people. The total turnover for 2014 is 6.36 billion US dollars, steel production is 4.5 million tons, pig iron is 2.3 million tons.
Mechel OAO is a large Russian metallurgical and mining company. Mechel's assets are located not only in Russia, but also in neighboring countries. Russian metallurgical enterprises included in the structure of the company: Chelyabinsk Iron and Steel Works, Beloretsk Iron and Steel Works, Izhstal. The turnover of Mechel OAO in 2014 amounted to 6.4 billion US dollars. About 80 thousand employees work in the structure of the company. In 2014, the company's enterprises produced 4.3 million tons of steel and 3.9 million tons of pig iron.
Pipe production
The pipe industry is a branch of ferrous metallurgy, which has been brought to the hotel. In recent years, this branch of metallurgy has been on a high rise in the Russian Federation. Over 12 years, pipe companies have invested more than 360 billion rubles in the development of the industry, of which 35 billion rubles in 2014. Production capacity Russian manufacturers pipes increased from 9 million tons in 2000 to 19 million tons. The production of pipes using electric welding (electric-welded pipes), on average, accounts for about 70% of all products, the remaining 30% falls on the production of seamless pipes.
The main factor in the development of pipe companies is the strong demand for products in the domestic market. In 2014, pipe consumption in Russia increased by 6.8% compared to the previous year and amounted to 9.3 million tons. At the same time, the demand for large-diameter pipes, which are used in the construction of gas and oil pipelines, has sharply increased. Compared to 2013, the growth was 35.3%. This is due primarily to the start of construction of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. In general, by industry of pipe products is as follows:
- Pipeline transport and hydrocarbon production - 70%;
- Housing and communal services - 24%
- Mechanical engineering - 4%
- Energy - 2%
The metallurgical complex is of great importance for the Russian economy. It ranks third in the structure industrial production after the fuel and energy and machine-building. It includes ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy. Russia ranks third in the world in the production of pig iron, fourth in the production of steel and finished rolled ferrous metals, and fifth in the extraction of iron ore. The metallurgical complex, in terms of the importance of products in the country's exports, is in second place after fuel resources, it provides a significant part (about 20%) of foreign exchange earnings. The industries are competitive on the world market - 60% of ferrous and 80% of non-ferrous metallurgy products are exported. Export of metals and precious stones in 2009 amounted to more than 38.6 billion dollars, the share in the country's exports - 12.8%, and this is the second position after mineral products.
Many large metallurgical enterprises are the basis for supporting the economy of entire regions of Russia. More than 70% of the enterprises of the complex are city-forming. They form an important part of regional and local budgets, determine the level and quality of life of the population in their regions, and have a stabilizing effect on employment.
The metallurgical complex is the largest consumer of products from industries such as fuel, electricity, transport, engineering, providing 35% of the country's freight turnover, 14% fuel consumption, 16% electricity. Thus, the metallurgical complex stimulates the development of these industries, supports them in a crisis, providing them with solvent demand.
Ferrous metallurgy
Ferrous metallurgy is one of the most dynamically developing industries Russian industry. This is all the more valuable because the industry is technologically and marketingally complex and has strong competitors on the world market - Japan, Ukraine and Brazil. However, our manufacturers manage to maintain their main competitive advantage - low production costs. To maintain the leading positions in the world in the industry, strategic plans are being developed to concentrate production, improve anti-crisis management, and work with problem assets.
The raw material base of the industry is represented by iron ores (the potential is estimated at 206.1 billion tons), coking coal, ferrous scrap, non-metallic materials and refractories. 70% of explored and 80% of probable iron ore reserves are in European part Russia.
Ferrous metallurgy includes: extraction and enrichment of ores, their agglomeration, production of coke, extraction of auxiliary materials (flux limestone, magnesite), production of refractories; production of cast iron, steel, rolled products, production of blast-furnace ferroalloys, electroferroalloys; secondary redistribution of ferrous metals; production of metal products for industrial purposes - hardware (steel tape, metal cord, wire, mesh, etc.), as well as the collection and preparation for melting of scrap metal. In this complex, the core role is played by the actual metallurgical processing of iron - steel - rolled products, the rest of the production is auxiliary, related, accompanying.
IN Lately the dynamics of the development of the industry testifies to the crisis phenomena and accumulated problems (Table 9.1).
Table 9.1. Production of main types of metallurgical products, mmt
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1990 |
1995 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
200S |
2009 |
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metals |
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The global financial crisis affected the performance, but also high depreciation of fixed assets, depletion of the raw material base, low quality of the bulk of products, lack of investment and working capital, limited effective demand in the domestic market also affect the overall situation.
Metallurgy stands out in the structure of ferrous metallurgy full cycle producing cast iron - steel - rolled products. Raw materials and fuel play a particularly important role in the location of full-cycle metallurgy enterprises, which account for up to 90% of all costs for iron smelting, of which approximately 50% for coke, 40% for iron ore. 1.2-1.5 tons of coal, at least 1.5 tons of iron ore, over 0.5 tons of flux limestones and up to 30 m 3 of circulating water are consumed per 1 ton of cast iron. All this testifies to the importance of the mutual arrangement of raw materials and fuel resources, water supply, and auxiliary materials. The role of iron ores and coking coals is especially great. Ferrous metallurgy with a complete technological cycle tends to sources of raw materials (Ural, Center), to fuel bases (Kuzbass) or to points in between (Cherepovets).
Enterprises incomplete cycle produce iron or steel or rolled products. Companies that produce steel without iron are called conversion . Pipe-rolling plants also belong to this group. Converting metallurgy focuses mainly on sources of secondary raw materials (waste from metallurgical production, waste from consumed rolled products, depreciation scrap) and on the consumer of finished products, i.e. for mechanical engineering. In this case, both the source of raw materials and the consumer are represented in single person, because the largest number scrap metal accumulates in areas of developed engineering.
A special group according to technical and economic characteristics is made up of enterprises producing ferroalloys And electric steels. Ferroalloys are alloys of iron with alloying metals (manganese, chromium, tungsten, silicon, etc.). Their main types are ferrosilicon, ferrochromium. Without ferroalloys, the development of high-quality metallurgy is unthinkable. They are obtained in blast furnaces or by electrometallurgical means. In the first case, the production of ferroalloys is carried out at full-cycle metallurgical plants, as well as with two (iron - steel) or one (iron) redistribution (Chusovoi), in the second - their production is represented by specialized plants. Electrometallurgy of ferroalloys due to high flow electric power (up to 9 thousand kWh per 1 ton of products) finds optimal conditions in those areas where cheap energy is combined with resources of alloying metals (Chelyabinsk). The production of electric steels is developed in areas that have the necessary sources of energy and scrap metal.
Metallurgical plants low power- mini-factories - are becoming increasingly important due to the vast resources of scrap metal available in the country and the needs of modern engineering in high-quality metal of certain and different brands but in small batches. Such plants can ensure the rapid smelting of metal desired brand and in a fairly limited amount for machine-building enterprises. They are able to quickly respond to changing market conditions, and most fully satisfy the needs of consumers. The high quality of steels produced at mini-mills is ensured by the most advanced electric arc melting method.
Small metallurgy - metallurgical shops as part of machine-building plants. They are naturally consumer-oriented, as they are integral part engineering company.
The location of the industry is associated with the formation of metallurgical bases. Metallurgical base - a group of metallurgical enterprises using common ore and fuel resources and providing the main needs of the country's economy in metal.
In Russia, there is one old metallurgical base - the Urals and emerging - Siberian and Central. Outside the main metallurgical bases, there is a large center of ferrous metallurgy with a full production cycle "Severstal" - the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant, which uses iron ore from the Kola-Karelian deposits (Kovdorsky, Olenegorsky, Kostomukshsky GOKs) and coking coal of the Pechora basin. Severstal occupies an honorable 12th place in the rating of the largest enterprises in Russia, and the first among metallurgical enterprises. Outside the bases, there are also ferrous metallurgy enterprises of the converting type, for example, in the Volga region (Volgograd), in the North Caucasus (Taganrog), etc.
Ural Metallurgical Base - the oldest and largest in the country (the first plant began operating in 1631). It accounts for about 38% of steel production in Russia. In terms of steel production, it is almost twice as large as Central and three times as large as Siberian. Now the Ural Metallurgical Base uses coal
Kuzbass, mainly imported ore from the KMA, the Kola Peninsula. Strengthening of its own raw material base is connected with the development of the Kachkanarskoye and Bakalskoye deposits. Many iron ores of the Urals are complex and contain valuable alloying components. There are reserves of manganese ores - the Polunochnoye deposit. Over 15 million tons of iron ore are imported annually. The main role here is played by full-cycle enterprises, the level of concentration of production is very high.
The leading enterprises - giants of the Ural metallurgical base include:
- o OAO Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK);
- o OAO "Mechel" Chelyabinsk Iron and Steel Works;
- o OAO Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works (NTMK);
- o JSC "Nosta" - Orsk-Khalilovsky metallurgical plant.
At the same time, many small factories have survived in the Urals. quite high quality profile Ural metallurgy, which largely depends on the specifics of raw materials. The volume of production of ferroalloys in Russia is growing. The main alloy, ferrosilicon, has exceeded the pre-crisis level and is being exported. The pipe-rolling complex is strategically important for Russia. It has four large plants: Sinarsky (production volume - over 500 thousand tons), which produces all oil country pipes, Seversky, Pervouralsky (production volume - over 600 thousand tons), which, in addition to steel pipes also produces aluminum for the automotive industry and refrigerators, Chelyabinsk (over 600 thousand tons). The pipe market is complex, saturated, and the competition is extremely fierce. Export destinations - Hungary, Israel, Iran, Turkey. The Vyksa Steel Works also produces over 600,000 tons of rub.
Central metallurgical base operates on KMA iron ores, scrap metal accumulations, imported metal and imported coal from Donbass and the Pechora basin. The center is one of the main metallurgical bases of the country. More than 12 million tons of steel are produced here. The largest enterprise is OJSC "Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Works" (NLMK). JSC "Tulachermet" is also one of the leading enterprises of Russian metallurgy, the country's largest exporter of commercial pig iron, which, according to various sources, accounts for 60 to 85% of sales of domestic pig iron on the world market. OJSC "Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant" (OEMK) produces metal, which is much superior in quality to ordinary metal and is supplied according to special specifications. The main consumers of the plant's metal products in the domestic and foreign markets are enterprises of the fuel and energy complex, heavy and automotive engineering, the construction industry, and bearing plants. The production of cold-rolled strip was set up at the Oryol Steel Rolling Plant. Volzhsky and Seversky plants merged into the Pipe Metallurgical Company.
Siberian metallurgical base (together with the Far East) works on the coal of Kuzbass and the iron ores of the Angara, Gornaya Shoria, Gorny Altai. This database is under construction. Modern production It is represented by two powerful enterprises with a full cycle - the Kuznetsk Iron and Steel Works and the West Siberian Metallurgical Plant (both located in Novokuznetsk), as well as a number of conversion plants in Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky, Komsomolsk-on-Amur. JSC "West-Siberian Metallurgical Plant" produces construction and machine-building rolled metal profiles. It produces 8% of rolled products in Russia, and in the production of building rolled products, the plant is the leader in Russia, as it provides 44% of the total production of fittings, 45% of the production of wire. The plant exports its products to 30 countries of the world. The West Siberian and Kuznetsk metallurgical plants, together with Nizhny Tagil, formed Evrazholding.
The largest enterprise in Russia for the smelting of ferroalloy - ferrosilicon - the Kuznetsk Ferroalloy Plant is located in the Siberian base.
On the Far East prospects for the development of ferrous metallurgy are associated with the creation of a full cycle enterprise. There are several options for its placement. It is believed that the best conditions has South Yakutia. There is already an energy base here - the Neryungri State District Power Plant, its own construction industry is developing, there are established work teams capable of solving major problems. There are coking coals and large deposits of iron ores. Both are mined or will be mined in an open way. In addition to the Aldan iron ore deposit, or rather a whole group of deposits, there is the Charo-Tokka basin, which lies along the BAM route.
What is metallurgy, what role does it play in the life of mankind? This industry is the foundation and foundation of the entire industry. Most of all areas of production use the results of metallurgical production. What is the importance of metallurgy?
The concept of metallurgy
Metallurgy plays an important role in all industries.
This term is commonly understood as a branch in science and technology that is engaged in the production, extraction of metals and ores. Without metallurgy technical progress impossible to imagine. This is the most powerful industrial branch which improves mining methods every year, studies the composition and properties of metals, and develops the boundaries of their application.
What does metallurgy include:
- metal production;
- processing of metal products in hot and cold form;
- welding;
- deposition of metal coatings.
In addition, metallurgy includes some aspects:
- science, theoretical study;
- knowledge of chemical processes;
- study of metal properties.
The metallurgical complex unites all enterprises that are engaged in the extraction and processing of metals. These are enterprises that are engaged in ore beneficiation, rolling production, processing of secondary raw materials.
What is metallurgy? The industry is divided into two main types. Types of metallurgy:
- color.
The level of the economy and the well-being of the population depend on how the metallurgical complex develops in the country.
Metals and alloys have a number of useful properties. These include:
- elasticity;
- ability to deform;
- high strength;
- thermal conductivity.
Due to their properties, metals and alloys are essential materials which are used in the creation of modern machines and technology. The central place is occupied by iron, its share in metallurgical products is more than 90%.
But iron in its pure form is used in small quantities. The bulk is used in the form of alloys.
The most commonly used steel and cast iron, which are ferrous metals. Steel is the main type of metal in the ferrous metallurgy, it has high strength and wear resistance. And steel lends itself well to welding.
Ferrous metallurgy is a branch of heavy industry, which includes in its technology the very extraction of material, processing, filling production with auxiliary materials and fuel.
In addition, ferrous metallurgy includes the final release of products and their processing. This type of industry includes:
- obtaining the main raw materials;
- enrichment of primary material (manganese and iron ore);
- smelting of cast iron, as well as high-quality steel;
- execution of refractory materials;
- filling production with auxiliary materials (limestone);
- production of metal products for own use.
Ferrous metallurgy is the basis of the entire engineering industry. Ferrous metals are widely used in construction and for human needs.
In terms of the concentration of black metal, Russia occupies a leading position in the world compared to other industrialized countries.
In the structure of ferrous metallurgy important place occupies the stage of production of iron and steel until the moment of rolling. In addition, production is based on the preparation of the ore itself for remelting, as well as enrichment.
For the production of pig iron, in addition to ore, the preparation of fuel and refractory materials is required, which help to achieve high-strength qualities from the metal. Coke is most often referred to as technological fuel; high quality coking coal is used for its production.
The subtleties of production
The location of enterprises associated with the extraction and processing of ferrous metals directly depends on the factor of raw materials. It is he who accounts for 90% of the costly funds in the remelting of cast iron.
The metallurgical complex of Russia includes three main bases:
- central;
- Siberian;
- Ural.
IN last years The central base is increasing the pace of production and overtaking the Ural one. It fully supplies the entire Central part of Russia with coking coal and ores. The bulk of the metal is produced in Cherepovets and Lipetsk.
The center of the Siberian base is the city of Novokuznetsk. This base has perspective value as it is completely based on the resources.
The Ural base is located in close proximity to fuel-rich Siberia and Kazakhstan. This location provides a low cost of production. In addition, a great advantage is the location close to Ural mountains. They are very old and nowadays many of them are being destroyed. Therefore, mining is carried out practically on the surface.
Most metals and ores can be mined.
But there is a downside to this location. There is no coking coal here, it has to be imported from neighboring regions.
Metallurgical plants with small capacity are of great importance in the country. It is they who can ensure the rapid smelting of metal in a small amount. Small factories react faster than large enterprises to market changes, they are able to quickly adapt to consumer needs.
A new direction in the industry today is blast-furnace or coke-free metallurgy. Such an enterprise was built in Russia, or rather, in the city of Stary Oskol - the Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant.
The traditional process, in which the ore is melted at a temperature of 1.6 thousand degrees, along with coke, which serves as a chemical reducing agent, differs from this technology.
The new method significantly saves coke, resulting in an environmentally friendly metal of high quality. Processes associated with coking coal are becoming more and more unprofitable every year.
Coal becomes more expensive, the coking process is very complicated, it requires additional costs, the construction of additional treatment facilities.
New installations are practically harmless to environment. In addition, steel produced new technology lasts five times longer.
Russia ranks fifth in the world in the production of this metal. In terms of explored reserves, the state is in second position.
The emphasis in the search for a location is on the development of primary deposits. The main places of gold concentration are in Siberia, the Far East and the Urals.
The main mines are:
- Solovyevsky - an old but significant mine in the Amur region;
- Nevyanovsky - was opened in 1813;
- Gradskoy - the first diamond in Russia was found here;
- the youngest Condor mine was discovered in the 60s, both gold and platinum are being mined here;
- Altaic.
The leading position in production is occupied by Polyus Gold. She has opened mines in the Irkutsk region, the Amur and Magadan regions.
State total
At present, Russia occupies a leading position in terms of iron ore and nickel reserves. More than 70 different metals and elements are produced in the country. Metallurgical production is of great economic importance.
The metallurgy industry is one of the most dynamically developing industries. Despite strong competition from large developing countries, Russia manages to maintain its leadership due to low production costs.
The metallurgical complex has its own problems. The growth of production at most enterprises occurs only when new ones are created. production capacity. Most of them were created more than 50 years ago, but they have already exhausted their reserve.
Video: Metallurgy