AVB Açailândia steel plant

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AVB Açailândia steel plant (Usina siderúrgica AVB Açailândia), also known as Aço Verde do Brasil steel plant, is a steel plant in Açailândia, Maranhão, Brazil that operates blast furnace (BF) and basic oxygen furnace (BOF) technology.

Location

The map below shows the exact location of the plant in Açailândia, Maranhão, Brazil:

Loading map...
  • Location: Rod BR 222, Km 14,5 nº 69 - Distrito de Pequiá 65930-000 - Açailândia - MA, Brazil
  • Coordinates (WGS 84): -4.874373, -47.4073517 (exact)

Background

The AVB Açailândia steel plant is owned by Aço Verde do Brasil, the steel-making division of Brazil's Grupo Ferroeste.[1]

In 1989 Grupo Ferroeste founded the Gusa Nordeste iron plant in Açailândia, along the Carajás railroad in the state of Maranhão in northeastern Brazil. Pig iron production began at Gusa Nordeste in 1993, growing from 60,000 to 360,000 tonnes annually over the next decade.[2]

In 2008, with support from the Banco do Nordeste, Grupo Ferroeste launched plans to expand its Açailândia operation to include steelmaking.[2] The new plant, known as AVB (Aços Verde do Brasil, or Green Steel of Brazil) began producing liquid steel in December 2015[2][3], and added a facility for the production of wire rod and other laminated products in 2018.[2] The plant's initial production capacity of 420,000 tpa[3] has been increased to 600,000 tpa[4][5], with the addition of two new blast furnaces in 2018[4] and 2021[6].

Grupo Ferroeste has touted AVB as the world's first "green" operation, due to the fact that the plant's blast furnaces burn charcoal from the company's nearly 50,000 hectares of eucalyptus forests as a substitute for coking coal.[2][5] In March 2021 the Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) certified AVB's steelmaking operations as carbon-neutral, noting that the plant released less than 0.10 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel produced, significantly less than the world average of 1.81 to 1.83 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel[5] or the range of 1.56 to 3.38 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel recorded by the World Steel Association at integrated steel plants worldwide.[7] Other initiatives undertaken by AVB to minimize fossil fuel consumption include the use of hydroelectric power, reuse of BOF and BF process gases, reuse of BF slag for cement production, and reuse of BOF slag to fuel its blast furnaces and basic oxygen furnace.[5][7]

Low-emissions/green steelmaking

This steel plant is associated with a green steel project tracked in the Green Steel Tracker. Details about the project are included below.

Table 1: Green Steel Project Details

All references for the above data are available in the Green Steel Tracker.
Project 1
Project name AVB charcoal integrated mill
Company Aço Verde do Brazil (AVB)
Company has climate goals? Yes
Location Maranhão state, Brazil
Project website Site
Project scale Full scale
Project status Operating
Year to be online 2018
Technology to be used Biomass for BF
Technology details BF + Eucalyptus charcoal
Iron production capacity (million tonnes per year) Not applicable
Steel production capacity (million tonnes per year) 0
CO2 capture (million tonnes CO2 per year) Not applicable
Hydrogen generation capacity (MW) Not applicable
Investment size (m USD) Not stated
Actual start year 2020
Date of announcement 2021-03-25

Plant Details

Table 2: General Plant Details

Start date Workforce size Power source
2015[8][9][10] 3000[11] onsite power plant fueled by blast furnace (BF) gases[12]

Table 3: Ownership and Parent Company Information

Parent company Parent company PermID Parent company GEM ID Owner Owner company PermID Owner company GEM ID
Grupo Ferroeste 5086558799 E100001016289 Aco Verde do Brasil SA[13] 4298258196 E100000130886

Table 4: Process and Products

Steel product category Steel products Steel sector end users ISO 14001 ISO 50001 Responsible steel Main production equipment
semi-finished, finished rolled[11] billet, wire rod, rebar[11] automotive, building and infrastructure, energy, tools and machinery[14] 2024-08-28[15] unknown[16] unknown[17] BF; BOF

Table 5: Plant-level Crude Steel Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

1Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.
Capacity operating status1 Basic oxygen furnace steelmaking capacity Nominal crude steel capacity (total)
operating 600[18][19] 600[18][19]

Table 6: Plant-level Crude Iron Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

1Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.
Capacity operating status1 Blast furnace capacity Nominal iron capacity (total)
operating 720[20][21][22] 720[20][21][22]

Table 7: Upstream Products Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

Ferronickel Sinter Coke Pellets
NF 0[23] 0[23] NF

Table 8: Actual Plant-level Crude Steel Production by Year (thousand tonnes per annum)

Year BOF production Total (all routes)
2019 338[20][24][25] 338[20][24][25]
2020 321[20][24] 321[20][24]
2021 345[26] 345[26]
2022 388[19] 388[19]
2023 386[23] 386[23]

Table 9: Actual Plant-level Crude Iron Production by Year (thousand tonnes per annum)

Year BF production Other/unknown iron production Total (all routes)
2019 336[27][28] –[27][28] 336[27][28]
2020 298[27][20] –[27][20] 298[27][20]
2021 326[29][30] -1[29][30] 325[29][30]
2022 362[31][30] –[31][30] 362[31][30]
2023 402[32][30] –[32][30] 402[32][30]

Unit Details

Table 10: Blast Furnace Details

Unit name Status Start date Current size Current capacity (ttpa) Decarbonization technology
BF 1; "Roberta" operating[24][33][11][25] 2018[34][28][22] 352.0 m3[28] 360[22][21] unknown
BF 2; "Regina" operating[24][33][11][28] 2021[18][33][35][22] 352.0 m3[20][28] 360[20] unknown

Table 11: Basic Oxygen Furnace Details

Unit name Status Current capacity (ttpa) Current size
unknown BOF (1) operating[19] 600[18][19] 50.0 tonnes

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of steel power plants, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Iron and Steel Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.

References

  1. ↑ "Grupo Ferroeste – Siderurgia, Combustíveis e Energia |". Grupo Ferroeste. Retrieved 2022-01-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Institucional". Grupo Ferroeste. Retrieved 2022-02-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Gusa Nordeste commissions the world's first Green Steel Plant". Russula. 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Relatório de Sustentabilidade 2019-2020 (p 2, p 28)" (PDF). AVB (Aço Verde do Brasil). May 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Carvalho, Adriana (2021-03-25). "Brazil's AVB receives carbon-neutral steel certificate". www.spglobal.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ "A AVB está de alto-forno novo! O alto-forno Regina, aumentará ainda mais a capacidade produtiva de nossa empresa". AVB (Aço Verde do Brasil). May 20, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Aço Verde do Brasil (AVB) se torna a primeira usina siderúrgica carbono neutro do mundo" (PDF). Valor. February 2, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ↑ "Institutional". Grupo Ferroeste. Archived from the original on 2022-03-21.
  9. ↑ https://www.russula.com/project/gusa-nordeste-commissions-the-worlds-first-green-steel-plant. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ↑ "Primeira usina siderúrgica carbono neutro do mundo…". AVB. Archived from the original on 2021-10-20.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 "História". AVB. Archived from the original on 2022-03-19.
  12. ↑ "Aço Verde do Brasil (AVB) se torna a primeira usina siderúrgica carbono neutro do mundo" (PDF). Aço Verde do Brasil. 2021-02-02. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-03-19.
  13. ↑ "Nossas empresas". Grupo Ferroeste. Archived from the original on 2024-01-25.
  14. ↑ "Produtos". AVB. Archived from the original on 2022-03-19.
  15. ↑ (PDF) https://avb.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/ISO-14001-2015-Ingles.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ↑ https://avb.com.br/certificacoes/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ↑ https://www.responsiblesteel.org/issued-certificates-and-ongoing-audits. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 (PDF) https://avb.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/RELATORIO-ANUAL-DE-SUSTENTABILIDADE-AVB-%E2%80%93-ACO-VERDE-DO-BRASIL-%E2%80%93-2021-2022-1.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 "Pocket Yearbook - Indústria do Aço em Números 2023" (PDF). Instituto Aço Brasil. 2023-06-30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-01-19.
  20. ↑ 20.00 20.01 20.02 20.03 20.04 20.05 20.06 20.07 20.08 20.09 20.10 (PDF) https://grupoferroeste.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/RELAT%C3%93RIO-DE-SUSTENTABILIDADE-2020-2021_update.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 https://ri.avb.com.br/Download.aspx?Arquivo=BiH5Qa0K8sgV43KY/hyE0g==. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 https://ri.avb.com.br/show.aspx?idCanal=hMR9EBCZPAxnwUA+dVMAeQ==. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 (PDF) https://www.acobrasil.org.br/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Mini_anuario_2024_AcoBrasil.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 24.5 "Pocket Yearbook - A Siderurgia em Números 2021" (PDF). Instituto Aço Brasil. 2021-06-30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-20.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 "Relatório Anual de Sustentabilidade 2019/2020" (PDF). AVB. 2021-04-30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-10-20.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Pocket Yearbook - A Siderurgia em Números 2022" (PDF). Instituto Aço Brasil. 2022-06-30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-06-25.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 "Brazil Steel Databook - Anuário Estatístico 2021" (PDF). Instituto Aço Brasil. 2021-07-31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-20.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 28.5 28.6 (PDF) https://avb.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/RELAT%C3%93RIO-DE-SUSTENTABILIDADE-Rev.-Final.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 "Brazil Steel Databook - Anuário Estatístico 2022" (PDF). Instituto Aço Brasil. 2022-07-31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-22.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 30.6 30.7 30.8 https://ri.avb.com.br/Download.aspx?Arquivo=6Xwzs6Q/GNVtu7j8aZq4SA==&linguagem=pt. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 "Brazil Steel Databook - Anuário Estatístico 2023" (PDF). Instituto Aço Brasil. 2023-07-31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-08-10.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 (PDF) https://www.acobrasil.org.br/site/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Anuario_Completo_2024.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 "A AVB está de alto-forno novo! O alto-forno Regina, aumentará ainda mais a capacidade produtiva de nossa empresa". AVB Aço Verde do Brasil. 2021-05-20. Archived from the original on 2022-03-19.
  34. ↑ http://jarlisadelino.blogspot.com/2018/05/gusa-nordeste-inalgura-novo-alto-forno.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  35. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHuKsUTcE8Q. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Resources

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