Turkey’s Yildirim Group is expanding its ferroalloys production capacity to include ferronickel through an agreement to acquire Newco Ferronikeli in Kosovo.

Yildirim has gone from strength to strength in the ferroalloys industry since first acquiring the Turkish Eti Krom ferrochrome plant in 2004.  The company has since invested further in ferrochrome plants in Sweden, Russia, and Albania, with the latest acquisition of Albchrome’s assets in 2021 moving Yildirim ahead of Finnish ferrochrome and stainless steel producer Outokumpu to become the sixth-largest ferrochrome producer globally.

Ferrochrome is the key ingredient used in stainless steel and the addition of ferronickel to the company’s product suite adds the second key ingredient for 300-series stainless steel. While the volumes of nickel in stainless steel are significantly lower than chromium, its higher value has meant that nickel markets tend to be the main price driver behind stainless steel costs and prices.

Both ferrochrome (>60% Cr) and ferronickel (16-24% Ni) assets under Yildirim are towards the higher-grade spectrum compared to most alloy output globally, with chromite podiform ores sourced from Turkey and Kazakhstan and nickel saprolite ores sourced from Guatemala. This exposes the company to additional niche applications for the alloys on top of stainless steel, where higher-grade products can gain better premiums.