Mar 3 2010
ThyssenKrupp MinEnergy GmbH plans to concentrate its foundry coke business activities increasingly in Europe in the future. In this connection the Essen-based energy specialist has now signed a 10-year agreement with Poland's biggest foundry coke producer in Waldenburg, Lower Silesia, under which 70,000 metric tons of foundry coke will be delivered to Duisburg each year. Stacked one meter high, that's enough coke to cover an area of around 30 soccer pitches.
The coke will be transported from the Polish coke plant to Germany by rail in special containers known as black boxes, each with the payload of a road truck (27 metric tons). This form of transportation is considerably more cost-effective and environmentally friendly than road haulage. Transporting the same volume by road would be the equivalent of driving around 5.6 million kilometers. Also, because less handling is required, shipment by rail reduces the risk of damage to the material and increases the quality of the delivered coke. Duisburg is a key hub in ThyssenKrupp MinEnergy's materials supply network. It offers outstanding facilities in terms of infrastructure and logistics.
Materials hub Duisburg
Distribution of the coke to customers, above all in North Rhine-Westphalia, will take place from Duisburg's Rhine-Ruhr terminal. Here the black boxes are unloaded from trains onto trucks and transported to customers. The Rhine-Ruhr terminal with its rail, road and waterway links is the optimum transshipment center. With access to the major seaports in Antwerp, Rotterdam and Amsterdam ThyssenKrupp MinEnergy will be able to supply customers in Germany and on the international markets on a just-in-time basis in the future.
The first train is due to reach Duisburg as early as March. The journey from Waldenburg to Duisburg takes around 36 hours.