Velta industrial and commercial firm LLC with titanium ore production assets in Ukraine (Kirovohrad region) has agreed to supply $100 million of ilmenite, a titanium feedstock, under a five-year supply contract with the Traxys Group, a global commodity trading group, aimed at meeting the needs of the North American market.
Velta said in press release that it has been working in the U.S. market for seven years.
“Given that North America is one of the most stable and fast growing markets, we have decided to enter a longer-term contract, which will ensure additional stability of the company’s operations,” CEO of Velta Andriy Brodsky said.
He said that the main competitive advantage of Velta is that the company produces high-quality high-titanium feedstock, which is currently scarce in the world and in great demand in the U.S. market.
“Titanium Dioxide pigment is a core business of our group. We are pleased to partner with such a high quality and reliable miner as Velta,” Traxys Head of Industrial Minerals Eli Skornicki said.
According to the press release, the ultimate consumer under the contract is Chemours. Chemours is a new kind of chemistry company driven by their purpose to create a more colorful, capable, and cleaner world through the power of chemistry. Chemours is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of titanium dioxide (TiO₂). The company’s Ti-Pure™ brand delivers industry-leading innovation to address the growing worldwide demand for high-quality TiO₂ by developing brighter, more efficient pigments for the coatings, plastics, and laminates markets. Its annual sales exceed $6.5 billion. Chemours employs more than 7,000 people worldwide.
Traxys, headquartered in Luxembourg, is a physical commodity trader and merchant in the metals and natural resources sectors. Its logistics, marketing, distribution, supply chain management and trading activities are conducted by over 400 employees, in over 20 offices worldwide, and its annual turnover is in excess of $7 billion. The group serves a broad base of industrial customers and offers a full range of commercial and financial services.
Velta LLC has been mining and processing titanium feedstock at Byrzulivske deposit in Kirovohrad region since 2012. The company also holds a license for the industrial development of Likarivske deposit with similar feedstock. From 2012 to 2019, Velta mined 1 million tonnes of ilmenite. The total number of jobs exceeds 500. Velta founded a research and development center Velta RD Titan that works on creating new methods for processing titanium feedstock.
CONTRACT, LUXEMBOURG TRAXYS, PRODUCTION, TITANIUM ORE, VELTA
Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU), which replaced Ukrtransgaz as the operator of the Ukrainian gas transmission system on January 1, 2020, has reported continuation of Russian gas transit under the new agreement reached between Russia’s Gazprom and NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy in furtherance of the previous ten-year contract.
“We have transported the first cubic meters of gas to the EU under the new gas contract consistent with European regulations. The gas transmission system is operating normally,” the operator said in a statement on Facebook on Wednesday.
State-owned enterprise National Nuclear Generating Company Energoatom and JSC Turboatom (Kharkiv) signed the five year (2020-2024) program on modernizing equipment of Ukrainian nuclear power plants (NPPs) on Tuesday.
According to a press release of Energoatom, the program involves the replacement of eight turbine condensers of nuclear power reactors, including four Russian-made condensers. After replacing the condensers, the total increase in power of reactors will be about 400 MW.
The document also provides for the modernization of flowing parts of turbine cylinders with a capacity of 200 MW and 1000 MW, including five turbines with a capacity of 1000 MW as part of import substitution. Modernization includes the replacement of rotor blades on existing rotors and diaphragms, which will increase the turbine’s power and its efficiency.
It is also planned to upgrade the high-pressure cylinders of the turbines of the Zaporizhia NPP, starting in 2020. Modernization of turbines will increase the capacity and efficiency of existing reactors of Ukrainian NPPs by 10%, which will provide a power increase of 70-100 MW at each reactor.
In addition, on Tuesday in Enerhodar (Zaporizhia region), an agreement was signed between Atomkomplekt (a separate division of Energoatom) and Turboatom for the manufacture and supply of a block-modular condenser for replacing the condenser of the K K-1000-60/1500 turbine at reactor five of Zaporizhia NPP in April 2020.
The parties also discussed a long-term repair program for the replacement of used spare parts.
“Four years ago, we gave a new powerful start to our cooperation, which is not only servicing the turbine park, but also the replacement and modernization of equipment. This will allow us to increase and improve the efficiency of nuclear power plants, to increase the generation of electric energy, which is important in conditions a new market, when every additional kilowatt-hour produced gives additional income,” Energoatom President Yuriy Nedashkovsky said.
According to the CEO of Turboatom Victor Subbotin, the volume of modernization at Energoatom for five years will exceed UAH 6 billion, which is a significant contribution to the utilization of production capacities and personnel of the enterprise.
Norway’s Norsk Solar has signed an agreement with the Voltage Group Ukrainian Company for designing and building of a 9 MW solar power plant near the town of Brovary in Kyiv region, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) reported on its website. According to the NEFCO, Voltage Group developed design documentation for construction of the solar plant on a total land area of 12.6 hectares.
The plant, which is located in the village of Semypolky, is to be commissioned at the end of 2019.
As reported, the NEFCO will lend EUR 4.35 million to Norway’s Norsk Solar for the construction of the plant, while Norsk Solar will issue another EUR 4.35 million.
The project owner and majority equity contributor, Norsk Solar AS, is part of the Norsk Vind group.
Norsk Solar is owned by Norwegian Lars Helge Helvig.
Ukrainian SPP will be the second such kind of a project for the company.
BUILDING, CONTRACT, KYIV, NORSK SOLAR, SOLAR POWER PLANT, UKRAINIAN CONTRACTOR
Antonov State Enterprise (Kyiv), part of Ukroboronprom state concern, is expected by the end of the year to receive a firm order from the Interior Ministry for the production of 13 new transport An-178 aircraft with a lifting capacity of 18 tonnes for the State Emergencies Service and the National Guard of Ukraine.
According to the press service of the state concern, within a preliminary agreement of the parties announced by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov at the 53rd international aerospace show Le Bourget 2019 (France), the signing of a contract to build 13 new An-178s for the ministry agencies is scheduled for autumn.
According to President of Antonov State Enterprise Oleksandr Donets, in the near future the enterprise plans to complete the design and certification of new An-178 airplanes, which is expected to be equipped with Ukrainian, American and European equipment. The transfer of the first aircraft to the customer is preliminarily scheduled for 2021-2022.
Head of Ukroboronprom Pavlo Bukin noted the production of aircraft for the domestic customer is considered to be the key condition for the resumption of serial production of aircraft in Ukraine.
PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (Dnipropetrovsk region) has signed an agreement worth almost $30 million with the Chinese company CISDI for the modernization of the largest blast furnace (No. 9).
According to a press release of the company, the contract includes the development of engineering, the supply of basic equipment, its installation, supervision and training of the metallurgical plant’s personnel.
It is noted that the company has four blast furnaces, of which DP-9 is the largest one, its useful volume exceeds 5,000 cubic meters. It produces about half of all pig iron at the steel plant and is still considered one of the largest in Europe.
The modernization of the furnace will increase its productivity to 10,000 tonnes of pig iron per day using the existing raw materials and up to 12,000 tonnes using sinter and pellets. ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih plans to produce pellets after the construction of a pelletizing plant (the declared capacity is 4.5-5 million tonnes per year). Both projects are the key ones in the enterprise’s investment program for the renovation and construction of production facilities.
