Posted on 11 Jan 2023
Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company (UDP) has won a tender by HBIS Group Serbia Iron & Steel to provide the transportation of raw materials to the steel plant in Serbia via the Danube River, says UDP general director Dmitry Moskalenko.
The volume transported this year will amount to 500,000 tonnes, Kallanish notes.
At the same time, HBIS Serbia does not rule out an increase in transportation volumes, he adds.
“Obtaining such a contract provides the UDP fleet with stable operation throughout 2023,” Moskalenko notes. “The struggle was not easy, since the tender was held among the leading shipping companies of the Danube. In order to win, UDP did a lot of work and convinced the partners to accept favourable terms. This victory showed that investments in the construction and modernisation of the fleet are absolutely economically justified.”
“Therefore, this year we are concentrating all our efforts in this direction,” the general director concludes.
HBIS Group Serbia Iron & Steel’s production in January-September 2022 amounted to 901,000t (see Kallanish passim). The company’s exports to the EU market during the first seven months, including July, meanwhile, were 397,000t, up by 3.9% on-year.
Last July, the plant idled blast furnace No.1 at its Smederevo works due to low global demand for steel products (see Kallanish passim). HBIS Serbia adjusted its business to the current situation and, once market conditions improve, the blast furnace will be restarted again, it said.
The plant in Smederevo can produce about 2.2 million tonnes/year of steel with its two furnaces, while No.1 alone has a capacity of about 900,000 t/y.
Product range comprises hot and cold rolled coil, pickled coil and electrolytic tinplate.
Source:Kallanish
