In Cairo, the Commercial Attaché at the Malaysian Embassy welcomed a delegation from the Libyan Iron and Steel Company. The two parties discussed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on April 15, 2024, between the Libyan Iron and Steel Company and the Italian company Danieli.
The MOU involves launching a project to establish a direct reduction plant. The new facility will produce two million tons of sponge iron and hot-molded iron annually. It will be situated within the Libyan Iron and Steel Company, benefiting from existing infrastructure and systems for storing, handling, and screening raw materials.
The project’s products are in demand in both local and international markets, including the company’s need. Daniele supplies them to its factories in Italy.
The project will be implemented as a joint venture between the Italian Danieli Company (51% share) and the Libyan Iron and Steel Company (49% share). It is anticipated that the project will be economically viable, with the capital outlay expected to be recovered within eight years after completing the implementation work, estimated to take approximately 3.5 years. The project will leverage Danieli Energiron technology, which competes with the American Midrex technology.
Danieli Company is one of three major international companies operating in the iron, steel, and metal industries, alongside Primetals (a subsidiary of the German company Siemens) and the German company SMS.
Danieli has a long history of cooperation with the Libyan Iron and Steel Company, having implemented several projects together. They currently collaborate on supplying spare parts and technical services, including the establishment of a steel bars factory with an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons in 1997 and another steel bars factory with an annual production capacity of 800,000 tons in 2018.
The current project falls under the second phase of the company’s comprehensive development plan, initially approved in 2007. The first phase was successfully completed with the opening of Bar Rolling Mill 2 in November 2018.