USS, Sunoco Agree on Heat-Recovery Coke Plant
15-year supply agreement for Granite City Works
15-year supply agreement for Granite City Works
U.S. Steel’s Granite City, IL, Works will receive metallurgical-grade coke and steam generated by a new coke plant to be built by a Sunoco Inc. subsidiary, under a new long-term contract. Gateway Energy & Coke is the developer of the plant. Gateway is an affiliate of SunCoke Energy, which is the Sunoco subsidiary.
SunCoke Energy manufactures coke for steelmaking using a proprietary technology said to be cleaner than commonly used chemical by-product recovery technologies. The federal Clean Air Act cites the SunCoke process as the “maximum achievable control technology” for coke production.
The process is now in use at plants in Vansant, VA; East Chicago, IN; Haverhill, OH; and Vitria, Brazil, which produce more than 4.2 million tons/year of metallurgical coke. A second plant is under construction at Haverhill, OH, and SunCoke has an agreement to build a new plant at Middletown, OH.
The Granite City project is estimated at $290 million, and it will consist of 120 heat-recovery ovens producing an estimated 650,000 tons/year of blast furnace coke. The coke will be delivered to U.S. Steel, as part of a 15-year supply contract. USS will own and operate a cogeneration plant, which will be fueled by steam generated from the cokemaking operation.
It is the latest in a series of capital investment projects announced by USS, aiming to make itself more self-sufficient for raw materials supply. It is investing $1 billion to update its Clairton, PA, Works coke installation, and is cooperating with a partner to develop a new alternative coke process to serve its Fairfield, AL, Works. USS also is modernizing its Minnesota iron mining operations.
Construction at Granite City will begin in May, and will be completed late in 2009.
“This agreement demonstrates continued progress in the growth of our SunCoke Energy business,” stated Sunoco chairman and CEO John G. Drosdick. “With the construction of this facility in Granite City, the expected completion of our second Haverhill, OH, plant later this year, and the expected construction of another facility in Middletown, Ohio, we will bring the total number of coke facilities we operate to seven and increase production capacity from 4.3 million tons per year to more than 6 million tons per year.”
SunCoke Energy manufactures coke for steelmaking using a proprietary technology said to be cleaner than commonly used chemical by-product recovery technologies. The federal Clean Air Act cites the SunCoke process as the “maximum achievable control technology” for coke production.
The process is now in use at plants in Vansant, VA; East Chicago, IN; Haverhill, OH; and Vitria, Brazil, which produce more than 4.2 million tons/year of metallurgical coke. A second plant is under construction at Haverhill, OH, and SunCoke has an agreement to build a new plant at Middletown, OH.
The Granite City project is estimated at $290 million, and it will consist of 120 heat-recovery ovens producing an estimated 650,000 tons/year of blast furnace coke. The coke will be delivered to U.S. Steel, as part of a 15-year supply contract. USS will own and operate a cogeneration plant, which will be fueled by steam generated from the cokemaking operation.
It is the latest in a series of capital investment projects announced by USS, aiming to make itself more self-sufficient for raw materials supply. It is investing $1 billion to update its Clairton, PA, Works coke installation, and is cooperating with a partner to develop a new alternative coke process to serve its Fairfield, AL, Works. USS also is modernizing its Minnesota iron mining operations.
Construction at Granite City will begin in May, and will be completed late in 2009.
“This agreement demonstrates continued progress in the growth of our SunCoke Energy business,” stated Sunoco chairman and CEO John G. Drosdick. “With the construction of this facility in Granite City, the expected completion of our second Haverhill, OH, plant later this year, and the expected construction of another facility in Middletown, Ohio, we will bring the total number of coke facilities we operate to seven and increase production capacity from 4.3 million tons per year to more than 6 million tons per year.”
