Focus on domestic raw materials

Institute of Metal Technology of the NAS of Belarus will launch an investment project for the products from 100 percent Belarusian raw materials

The sanctions of the collective West forced the metallurgical industry of Belarus not only to intensify the production of import-substituting products, but also pay attention to the acute raw material issue. This was reported by BMZ Deputy General Director for Technology and Quality Sergey Terletskiy on the eve of the professional holiday — Metallurgist Day.

Tatiana Nikitenko, factory inspector at BMZ, the Management Company of the holding company Belarusian Metallurgical Company

The manager emphasised that the enterprise uses domestic raw materials by almost 50 percent at full load, “It should be noted that the Soviet school of its gathering was preserved in the country. In addition, the Belvtorchermet JSC enterprise supplies high quality raw materials to the enterprise with a powerful structure, represented in all regions of the country. Nevertheless, we are forced to buy another 50 percent.” 
This issue is being resolved largely thanks to co-operation within the EAEU, emphasised MTW Deputy Technical Director for Metallurgical Preproduction — Chief Metallurgist Ilya Firsov, “Given the situation, the company had to reorient itself by 180 degrees in terms of materials. Part of the raw materials, which were previously supplied from Ukraine and European countries, were replaced by Russian and domestic ones. We have to quickly navigate the situation, change our suppliers.”
The sanctions of the collective West forced the metallurgical industry of Belarus not only to intensify the production of import-substituting products, but also pay attention to the acute raw material issue

In a sense, problems help us to exist — this is how the director of the Institute of Metal Technology of the NAS of Belarus Anatoly Zhigalov outlined their new development strategy. According to him, the institute has found not only the opportunity to create products using 100 percent domestic raw materials, but also to enter the hard alloys market, “In general, we have adopted a strategy to work on domestic raw materials. The Institute is engaged in the production of Belarusian hard alloy. Previously, the structure of the market for this raw material was as follows: 50 percent came from European countries, about a quarter was occupied by Russia, another 10 percent by China, and so on. Now, since the market has just turned over, prices are going wild, there is a need to produce our own. Moreover, we have technologies, equipment, and skill sets in this area. We went ahead, deciding to work on a domestic product.”
In fact, the raw material for the production of the institute is the waste of more than 100 Belarusian specialised enterprises. According to Anatoly Zhigalov, statistics show the following: today the need for hard alloys of our industrial complex is more than 100 tonnes per year of hard alloy of various modifications worth more than $20 million. As a result of the activities of these enterprises, carbide scrap waste remains. 
The goal of the institute is to get 30 tonnes of products per year. It will be produced by the zinc process — the decomposition of hard alloys into powders, which are subsequently sintered into products using classical technology, “We will improve the structure, which will make it possible to obtain a good quality product from not very high-quality raw materials. We expect to fit into the market with our products, occupying it by 10-15 percent. Now the investment project is being shaped. Investor — Mogilev Region Executive Committee. The cost of the project was reduced by three times, and it became real largely thanks to the fact that we turned to Chinese equipment.”

By Vera Arteaga
Photos by Vitaly Pivovarchik, Ivan Yarivanovich