Ferrosilicon & coke export

Our business is no longer confined to the domestic market. We believe a presence in global markets both supports the country's economic growth and strengthens industrial supply chains. In international trade the buyer is usually a plant, and above all a plant needs a supplier it can depend on: the cargo that arrives today must match the quality of the one before it.

Ferrosilicon is an alloy of iron and silicon, produced in submerged arc furnaces by smelting quartz together with coke or coal and iron. The process consumes a great deal of electricity, so access to energy is decisive in the ferrosilicon business. This is where the link between our businesses becomes clear: energy, ferroalloys and steel are parts of one chain.

Coke is made by baking coal at high temperature in the absence of air. The result is a hard, porous, high-carbon material. In steelmaking, coke plays two roles at once: it fuels the furnace and it separates iron from iron ore. Coke is used in blast furnaces, in the production of ferroalloys including ferrosilicon, and in cast iron foundries.

In this market, quality is measured in numbers, not descriptions. A small difference in the chemistry of ferrosilicon, or in the ash and sulphur content of coke, can affect an entire melt. That is why the technical specifications, analysis, packaging and delivery terms of every shipment are agreed with the buyer and set down in writing before the deal, so that nothing is left to be settled at the port of destination.