1250000000 tonnes of steel

nb1...

Even though I find the integration of the EARS/ERMS/DRI process for TiO2 almost sexy (sick, I know).... financially I'm actually more excited about the prospects in iron and steel for the APG technology.

The reason is the potential size of the market.

Just to recap .... the technology has 2 potential uses in steel manufacturing.

- processing of the waste iron chloride solution generated during pickling of the surface of steel flat products with hydrochloric acid. APG's EARS and DRI process steps regenerate hydrochloric acid to reuse for pickling and metallized iron for use in electric arc furnaces. Existing treatment processes just make iron oxide sludge.

- APG's DRI process can metallize mill and caster scale for use in electric arc furnaces

If we have one of the Australian steel manufacturers sign up, that's great. Australia has about 7.6million tonnes of steelmaking capacity. A big chunk of that either passes through a pickling line or oxidizes to form mill scale.

However, that is really just the tip of the iceberg. There are no international borders re flow of technology. The world capacity of steel manufacturing is about 1250 million tonnes!!!! Australian manufacturers form only about 0.6% of the total potential technology market. I am having trouble coming up with how much pickle liquor or mill scale is generated worldwide, but I know that it is HUGE. Usually, steel that is plated with another metal (galvanized) or is shiney is pickled with acid first.

Using APG's DRI process for metallizing iron ore fines is the other BIG one. This is the growth market in steel making raw material, as it makes a good diluant for scrap metal going into electric arc furnaces. The world DRI capacity is around 55 million tonnes per year and is growing at around 2 million tonnes per year. Any step that gets us closer to that technology market is again BIG $$$$.

1,250,000,000 tonnes of steel each year.... I'm getting excited!!!