Prihláste sa na odber noviniek
Iron scrap belongs to significant commodities of the Slovak railways. Approximately 170,000 tons of this recycled material is brought by ZSSK CARGO to a steel mill in Podbrezová, from where it hauls final goods mainly in the form of steel pipes.
Steel mill Železiarne Podbrezová celebrates hundred and eighty years since its foundation in 2020. It belongs to the oldest steel companies of the central European region. During the period of Austrian monarchy it was decided that there will be a steel mill built in this town of Horehronie region, aiming at production of rails for railways construction across the monarchy. The company is connected with railways by today. In its premises exists an extensive railway siding network, fed by raw materials via national network by ZSSK CARGO that also exports final goods out of the mill.
Scrap from all over Slovakia
The basic incoming raw material for steel production in Podbrezová is iron scrap. It is one of the most recycled raw materials in the world. Over 90% of totally 276,000 tons of scrap comes to this specific site from subsidiaries of Železiarne Podbrezová, companies ŽP EKO QELET a.s., and KBZ s.r.o.
You might have thought of where does life of old cars ends. These companies are dedicated (apart from scrap purchase) to scrapping cars for the purpose of their further metal car bodies use in the steel making process.
Over 170,000 tons of this scrap annually is transported by ZSSK CARGO. It is moved here by local trains on a railway line from Banská Bystrica, first meters of which were laid back in 1883. But the places of loading are various stations and sidings all over Slovakia – mainly in the areas of Zvolen, Nitra, Trenčianska Teplá, Nitra, and Košice. These vary from single wagons to groups of five to ten wagons, brought to Podbrezová by common forming of trains. Almost exclusively, wagons type Eas and Eanos are used. These are universal open top wagons for loading of iron, coal, as well as scrap.
Pipes to the entire world
The same type of wagons finds its utilization for return loads with finished goods. From overall 328,000 tons of steel made in this steel mill, ZSSK CARGO moves around 45,000 tons of finished goods, heading to places all across the world. Major transportation stream is Germany, both via border station of Kúty (towards Czech Republic), and Petržalka (towards Austria). In the latter case, ZSSK CARGO provides the customer complex services, including on sections abroad in Austria and Germany. Unit trains as well as groups of wagons aim also for Austria in stanchion wagons type Res. Among destinations you can also find for example Turkey, or the Belgian port of Antwerp.
Iron scrap is a great example of a circular economy, as well as reverse logistics, where railway can play a primary role. Through the transport of single wagons or groups of wagons to the same customer, ZSSK CARGO can offer most competitive services.
At times, when recycling and efforts to maintain clean environment is more important than ever, railways can offer another element in the supply chain towards the green future: an ecological form of transporting raw materials, as well as goods.
For more information on transporting iron scrap, coal, or iron ore, do not hesitate to contact sales group manager, Martina Surmíková. You can find all sales managers contacts on https://www.zscargo.sk/en/contacts/sales-managers.
Photo: Nikolaj Šeršeň
