Vertically integrated steel and mining company Evraz on Thursday announced that it would invest $228-million in the construction of a new vanadium slag processing plant in Russia.
The plant, to be located at the Uzlovaya Special Economic Zone in the Tula region, would be launched in 2025, the company stated.
"The development of vanadium production in the Tula region will create new jobs, decrease processing costs and strengthen the existing constructive dialogue between Evraz and the region's government,” said CEO Alexander Frolov.
The plant would be built using the best technologies available to reduce its environmental impact. For example, the plan is that production wastewater, stormwater and sewage would be treated and reused in the unit's closed-loop water system.
Evraz, which on Thursday also reported first-half results, stated that global vanadium demand rose by 16% year-on-year in the first half of 2021, on the back of a strong recovery in steel output. Demand in China alone increased by 20%, driven by higher rebar production and growing demand for vanadium-based energy storage.
The group’s consolidated revenue climbed by 24% year-on-year to $6.18-billion, driven by higher sales prices for construction and semi-finished products, as well as greater prices and volumes for vanadium products.