Turkish steel conglomerate (Tosyalı) signed an agreement with the Libya United Steel Company for the Iron and Steel Industry (SULB) to establish a Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) plant in Benghazi, according to an Anadolu Agency report on last Thursday.
Tosyalı also said in a statement that it had started a new steel investment in Libya following its investments in the domestic markets of Algeria, Senegal, Angola and Spain.
As part of the agreement between Tosyalı and SULB, a new company called Tosyalı-SULB has been established in Benghazi, the report said.
The DRI plants, which will have a total capacity of 8.1 million tons, will be equipped with MIDREX Flexi DRI technology and will operate using hydrogen as a clean energy source.
The integrated iron-steel plant consists of three phases, and preparations are being made for the investments in the first phase, which has a capacity of 2.7 million tons.
The plant is expected to meet the green steel needs of both the nearby region and Europe, and it aims to play an important role in the supply of HBI (Hot Bricket Iron), which is the basic intermediate product most needed in the green transformation process.
The chairperson of the board of directors of Tosyalı Holding, Fuat Tosyalı, said they would be very pleased to bring our knowledge and expertise in quality steel production to Libyan Benghazi with this new complex, for which we have completed ground surveys and engineering studies and whose construction and assembly will begin in the coming days.
"I strongly believe that by producing high-quality and standard green steel products with advanced technology, innovation and R&D, and with low carbon emissions at our integrated plant, we will lead the transformation into a high-quality production ecosystem in the global steel industry from Libya." He added.
SULB Chairperson of the Board of Directors Ahmed Gadallah, said the agreement was an important step for the industrialization of Benghazi and the development of the steel sector. He added that the agreements were both a major move for the future of the two groups and would bring Libya (Benghazi) and Turkey closer together economically.