Petmin USA has proposed building a plant in Ashtabula, Ohio, to produce 425,000 t/yr of nodular pig iron via a direct-reduced iron and electric arc furnace (EAF) process.
The proposed location is at the existing Kinder Morgan Pinney Dock on Lake Erie, allowing it to receive and store shipments of feedstock iron ore pellets via lake vessel, according to filings with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The plant would be the first of its kind in the US, which currently imports most of its nodular pig iron from South Africa and Brazil, according to market participants. Nodular pig iron, a high-grade derivative of merchant pig iron, is consumed by foundries to produce ductile iron.
The Petmin plant would be located near the bulk of US foundries in the Ohio Valley and midwest.
The project remains in the early stages, with no announced construction date. The Ohio EPA held a public meeting on the draft air permit for the facility on 20 December and will be accepting public comments until 4 January.
Petmin USA is 90pc owned by South African coal miner Petmin, which operates that country's largest metallurgical anthracite mine.
