Buta Steel Company (BSC), a leading metallurgy company in Europe, is preparing to implement a startup project in this field for the first time around the world. The project is about the application of artificial intelligence in the production process.

The essence of the innovation is the use of artificial intelligence in the electric arc furnace to melt metal.

Presently, during the melting process, 3-4 buckets are loaded to fill the charge of a 60-ton furnace, depending on the density of the metal. The supply of the bucket to the furnace and the metal melting process are controlled by the steel makers. However, each time, for various reasons, there is a 1-2-minute delay in the process of emptying the bucket and releasing the alloy. A delay means both a loss of electricity in the working process and a production loss due to the fact that no output was carried out at that moment.

With the implementation of the new project, the decision-making process for metal smelting will be carried out not by humans, but by artificial intelligence. The necessary parameters and data associated with both the release of the alloy, the addition of alloying elements, and other necessary processes, will be entered into the computer memory, and the process will be automatically regulated. That is, the human factor will be minimized and steelmakers will only control the process. In the event of a delay, the system will immediately alert and take appropriate action. According to initial estimates, if this startup is implemented, the plant operating 24 hours a day will increase its profits by saving millions of manats a year.

After patenting, on the basis of copyright, other global companies working in the field of metallurgy can also acquire this startup in order to optimize the process. There are already foreign companies interested in the project.

Buta Steel Company LLC, which started its activity in 2001, is the biggest private metallurgical company in Europe. BSC currently has two melting workshops with one 60-ton and one 30-ton electric arc furnace, 3 section rolling lines, one seamless tube rolling line, one spiral seam tube rolling line, one mini-mill for shaped casting, and one oxygen plant.

Buta Steel Company produces high-quality rebar, wire rod, square and round billets, square and round rods, seamless and spiral seam pipes, as well as shaped castings of various shapes. Channels, angles, and I Beams are also produced. BSC products that meet the requirements of many certificates of conformity, including ISO 9001:2015, are in great domestic demand and are also exported to Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and other countries.

Buta Steel Company (BSC) has achieved significant success in a number of areas in the past nine months of 2021, despite the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic. These successes are reflected in production and financial indicators.

Compared to the corresponding period of 2020, there was a significant increase in both production and sales of products at BSC. Thus, steel production rose by 15%, armature by 4%, steel wire by 40%, and pipe by 14%.

Sales revenues in January-September 2020 amounted to AZN 134,499,671 (excluding VAT) and in the corresponding period of 2021 – AZN 206,662,36 (excluding VAT), growing by 54%.

At the same time, Buta Steel Company’s profit, profit margin, net profit, as well as EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) increased.

While BSC ended the same period last year with about AZN 475,669 in EBITDA, in 2021, this figure rose more than 138 times to AZN 65,839,488. In the first nine months of last year, EBITDA was 0.35% of total sales, but this year it has risen sharply to 31.85%. During the reporting period, the company’s total profit is up AZN 68,137,278 compared to the same period last year. In other words, the company ended January-September 2021 with AZN 55,675,110 in profit, while it ended the previous year with a loss of AZN 12,462,168. At the same time, the company’s free funds were raised due to gains.

These and other indicators were achieved as a result of optimal management of the assets of Buta Steel Company.

BSC management is currently working on new ideas and significant projects to make the company more successful.

The positive dynamics began to be observed in the company’s activities after the management of the Buta Steel Company was reformed in February 2021.