Iron and steel complexes in central and southern of Vietnam have to import limestone and dolomite from the north

 Limestone and dolomite are raw material for steel-making with an estimated quantity of 200kgs limestone and 100kg dolomite for one tone of steel.

Limestone can be burnt to become lime, dolomite can be burnt to become burnt dolomite or light-burnt dolomite. Limestone and dolomite.

Typical kilns include shaft kilns and rotary kilns. Limestone and dolomite fed into shaft kilns are of the size 40-80mm, while the one for rotary kilns can be smaller - 20-40mm.

Limestone and dolomite, lime and burn dolomite are also ground to produce powder with top size of 3mm.

It's required that limestone for steel-making consist of approx. 93% CaCO3 (equivalent to 52% CaO). We do not want to much of other compositions. MgCO3 (<7.4%), SiO2 (<1.5%), S (0.06%), P (0.02%), Al2O3 + Fe2O3 (2%) are few number for reference.

For dolomite, the required MgCO3 content is more than 38% (equivalent to 18% MgO) and required CaCO3 content is more than 53.5% (equivalent to 30% CaO). Again, we do not want to much impurities like S, P, SiO2, Al2O3 + Fe2O3 as mentioned above.

Limestone, lime and dolomite, burnt dolomite powder is used as flux for sintering iron ore. While pieces are used for liquid steel.

Natural reserves of limestone and dolomite distribute mainly in the north of Vietnam like NinhBinh, HaNam, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Binh. While big-scaled iron and steel complexes with blast furnaces like Hoa Phat Dung Quat JSC, Hatinh Formosa, Vung Tau Pomina are located in central and southern of Vietnam. That's why they have to import a large quantity of limestone and dolomite from the north. The price of limestone in Hanam mine is only $4, however, due to a long distance of river and sea transportation, the price comes up to $10 when arriving Quangngai.

Limestone and dolomite are sedimentary rocks which are widely exist in the north of Vietnam, while in central Vietnam, There are mainly igneous rock like granite, basalt rock.

Limestone is also an important material for cement manufacture and aggregate for construction.

Note: Data in this article is for reference only, they depend on many factor like technology, market, orgin, etc.

Quangngai, November, 23rd, 2022