ISTANBUL, TURKEY – AUGUST 1, 2013 – Turkish conglomerate YILDIRIM GROUP’s latest acquisition is Mechel Chrome, the chrome division of Russian Mechel. After a very competitive international tender among eight bidders, YILDIRIM is now the owner of Mechel Chrome’s vertically integrated Voskhod Mining Plant in Kazakhstan and Tikhvin Ferroalloys Plant (TFP) in Russia.

 

Located in northwest Kazakhstan, the Voskhod chrome ore mines and chrome concentrate plant, which began production in July 2009, feature an underground state-of-the-art mine and a modern ore processing plant. The mine has total reserves of 21 million tons of chrome ore. The plant’s chrome ore boasts one of the highest Cr/Fe ratios in the world, at 3.5-3.8. Voskhod is also responsible for sourcing chrome concentrate for TFP. The plant currently has an annual beneficiation capacity of 1 million tons of raw ore, which can be increased up to 1.5 million tons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, TFP, which is located 200km southeast of St. Petersburg in Tikhvin, is one of Russia’s largest producers of high-carbon ferrochrome (HC FeCr) with a chrome content of 69.5%, accounting for 22% of the country’s production volume. As a relatively young plant that began production in April 2007, TFP is also renowned for being the most modern ferroalloy plant in the CIS, with advanced facilities like a gas cleaning system for the furnace, briquetting line and slag processing unit, as well as one of the lowest power consumption per ton rates in the CIS.

  

Combined, Voskhod and TFP’s assets supply the ferrochrome, chrome chemicals, alloy steel, foundry and stainless steel markets of Russia, Europe, US, China and Far East Asia.

 

“After the acquisition of Mechel’s chrome division, YILDIRIM GROUP reached a consolidated 520,000-ton production capacity for high-quality high carbon ferrochrome (HC FeCr) in Turkey, Sweden and Russia,” said Robert Yuksel YILDIRIM, President and CEO of YILDIRIM GROUP, about the investment. “Therefore, YILDIRIM GROUP is the only global high carbon ferrochrome producer in three different countries in order to hedge the political, economic and other risks for its global long-term stainless steel customers. In addition, YILDIRIM GROUP’s total annual chrome ore production will now reach 2.5 million tons in Turkey and Kazakhstan for its internal ferrochrome production and chrome ore exports.”