OM Holdings to produce higher value silicon metal with the rise in demand from the aluminium sector, among others

The ferroalloy smelting plant of the vertically integrated manganese and silicone metal company OM Holdings Ltd (OMH) in Malaysia’s Samalaju Industrial Park, Bintulu, will incorporate higher value-added silicon metal.

The OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, the group's flagship smelter complex, successfully modified and converted two ferrosilicon (FeSi) furnaces into metal silicon (MetSi) furnaces to produce silicon metal.

According to OM Holdings, "The first MetSi furnace is undergoing hot commissioning and performance testing."

However, the MetSi furnace has a production capacity of 35 tonnes to 40 tonnes per day. The modification and conversion process involved dismantling two idle FeSi furnaces, followed by civil works and equipment installation carried out by contractors from China in December 2021.

The smelting plant has 16 units of furnaces, of which six units are allocated for the production of FeSi, eight units for manganese alloys and two units for silicon metal.

OM Sarawak’s plans include expanding the production capacity of manganese alloys by an additional 150,000 tonnes per annum. The flagship plant complex also consists of a sinter plant with a design capacity to produce 250,000 tonnes of sinter ore per annum.