Charlotte, NC – Egyptian Sponge Iron & Steel Company (ESISCO), a wholly owned corporation of Beshay Steel of Cairo, Egypt has announced that it has signed a contract with Midrex Technologies Inc. to build Egypt’s largest MIDREX® Plant utilizing 2nd generation HOTLINK® technology.

The new HOTLINK 2G™ DR plant is to be constructed at Beshay's Sadat City, Egypt Steel Complex.  With a rated capacity of 1.76 million tonnes per year, ESISCO will be able to produce Hot Direct Reduced Iron (HDRI) and Cold Direct Reduced Iron (CDRI) simultaneously.

ESISCO is expected to be commissioned in 2010.  It will be one of  the first MIDREX HOTLINK 2G design configured to allow transport of Hot DRI by the HOTLINK® technology at temperature in excess of 600°C to an adjacent EAF.

Coupled to a new Siemens Metal Technologies GmbH 160 ton Electric Arc Furnace, the plant will be capable of feeding up to 100% HDRI to the EAF Charge.

“We have spent many years building a solid foundation within the Egyptian steel industry and are looking towards to the future to be an even greater steelmaking presence in the middle east through this expansion,” Eng. Kamal Beshay, CEO of ESISCO and Beshay stated. “We chose MIDREX based on its documented proven reliability, ability to consistently produce high quality DRI products, and its un-approached history of fast start up periods.  Midrex's long and proven  history of building successful DRI projects is an excellent match for the Beshay Steelmaking family.”

“We are also very pleased to welcome Beshay Steel and ESISCO to the Midrex family of MIDREX® Licensees,” said James D. McClaskey, President and CEO of Midrex Technologies, Inc. “We have been working with the Beshay family over the last several months to develop this new DR project in Egypt and view this as another great milestone for both companies.” 

In 2002 Beshay opened one of the most advanced steel rolling mills ever in Egypt, at Sadat City, with a total annual production of 1,65 million tons of reinforced steel bars and wire rods.  Beshay Steel of Cairo, Egypt is a privately held corporation.

HOTLINK® Commercial Technology:  

For more than 2 decades the steel industry and DRI technology suppliers have sought ways to best utilize the sensible heat of freshly produced DRI - yet none have perfected the DR-EAF combination until now.  Using HOTLINK®  to reliably deliver high temperature DRI into an adjacent EAF is an evolutionary step forward for the technology.   HOTLINK maintains 100% sealing of the DRI until reaching the roof of the EAF, and minimizes handling for optimum yield and temperature.  EAF's using Hot DRI are expected to improve annual production rates by at least 20% when compared to conventional cold DRI.  With discharge temperatures well above 600 Celsius, conservation of this sensible heat for melting is essential to maximizing throughput.