Finland’s Outotec has been awarded a €45m ($51m) contract to supply process technology to a new iron ore beneficiation plant in Iran.

The contract was awarded by the local Khorasan Steel Complex Company and includes a complete beneficiation plant and an entire value chain from raw material testing and process development to concentration and dewatering.

Outotec will also be responsible for basic engineering and the supply of key process equipment, as well as advisory services for detail engineering, construction and commissioning.

The proposed plant will have the capacity to produce 2.5 million tonnes a year (t/y) of pellet feed-grade iron ore concentrate, and is expected to be completed in 2017.

“Outotec has fulfilled all current export and legal regulations, and is complying fully with them,” the company said. “In anticipation of possible future changes in the regulatory framework, the order will be booked in Outotec’s order backlog gradually during 2015-17 according to cash inflow.”

Khorasan Steel Complex Company’s complex in Nishapur in Razavi Khorasan, northeastern Iran, has an estimated capacity of 650,000 t/y. The current complex includes four direct reduction iron (DRI) units, a scrap unit, a melt shop, a continuous casting plant and a rolling mill.

The company first undertook the project to add a beneficiation plant and pelletising plant at the site in 2008.

The pelletising plant will be based on the Lurgi process and the main contract has been awarded to a local consortium of Kayson and Iritec. It is expected to be completed in 2016.

The beneficiation plant provided by Outotec will provide the concentrate needed by the pelletising plant.

Outotec’s contract is the second deal for the Finnish group this year in Iran’s iron and steel sector.

In June, the firm was awarded a $100m deal to deliver technology and services for an iron ore pelletising plant planned by Bafgh Mineral Complex Iron & Steel Company (B-Misco).

The 5 million-t/y project in Bafgh, located in the Yazd province, is part of B-Misco’s greenfield investment programme. Outotec’s contract covers a technology licence, basic engineering, detailed engineering, supply of equipment and automation, advisory site services, commissioning and start-up. The plant is expected to be operational in 2018.

The scope includes a kiln, rollers, dryers, silos, pelletising and sintering machines, and associated facilities.

Iran has several iron and steel projects at the early stage and, following the 14 July agreement to remove sanctions against the Iranian economy, there is expected to be a pick-up in contracts to overseas firms in the sector.