New Zealand Steel
Glenbrook Steel Mill from the mill's lookout
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 Glenbrook Steel Mill location in New Zealand
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| Built | 1968 |
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| Location | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 37°13′S 174°44′E / 37.21°S 174.74°ECoordinates: 37°13′S 174°44′E / 37.21°S 174.74°E |
New Zealand Steel Limited is the owner of the Glenbrook Steel Mill, the steel mill located 40 kilometres south east of Auckland in Glenbrook, New Zealand. The mill was constructed in 1968 and began producing steel products in 1969. Currently, the mill produces 650 000 tonnes of steel a year which is either domesticity used or exported. Over 90% of New Zealand's steel requirements are produced at Glenbrook while the remaining volume is produced by Pacific Steel, a steel recycling facility in Otahuhu, Auckland. The mill is served by the Mission Bush Branch railway line, which was formerly a branch line to Waiuku. Coal and lime trains arrive daily. Steel products are also transported daily. The mill employs 1150 full-time staff and 200 semi-permanent contractors.
New Zealand Steel is notable due to its unique utilization of ironsand as its ore. Because ironsand is a low grade ore with many contaminants, the mill's primary plants' operations and equipment are unusual.
The west coast beaches of the North Island of New Zealand, between Kaipara Harbour and Whanganui, contain ironsand deposits rich in the mineral titanomagnetite. From the late 19th century to the 1950s, there were many unsuccessful attempts to smelt steel from the ironsands. In 1954, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research began investigated smelting from the ironsands. In 1959, The New Zealand Government established the NZ Steel Investigating Company under the Iron and Steel Industry Act 1959 as a vehicle for the investigations.
New Zealand Steel Limited was incorporated by the New Zealand Government in 1965. In 1967, construction started on a mill at Glenbrook. Commercial operations began in 1968, with imported feed coil being used to produce steel for domestic and Pacific Island markets. The company pioneered the direct reduction process for reducing iron oxide (ironsand) into metallic iron. This culminated in the commissioning in 1970 of iron and steelmaking facilities to produce billets for domestic and export markets. Expansion continued with the commissioning of a pipe plant in 1972 and a prepainting line in 1982. Total output at this time averaged 300 000 tonnes a year.
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