JFE Steel Restarts Relined No.3 Blast Furnace at Fukuyama

JFE Steel blew in No.3 blast furnace at West Japan works’ Fukuyama area for fourth campaign on Friday. JFE Steel held the ceremony with around 100 attendees on the same day. The firm idled No.2 blast furnace at Fukuyama area on Wednesday before the restart of No.3 blast furnace to improve production efficiency.

JFE Steel had been revamping No.3 blast furnace for 29 billion yen since January. The firm increased inner capacity of the furnace to 4,300 cubic meters from 3,223 cubic meters to increase the annual iron production capacity by around 1 million tonnes. With the expansion, the firm increased the raw steel output capacity to 13 million tonnes per year at Fukuyama area, to 23 million tonnes for West Japan works and to 33 million tonnes for the maker.

Idled No.2 blast furnace with 2,828 cubic meters inner capacity at Fukuyama area, which had been operating since September 1998, is the smallest furnace in the area. JFE Steel can immediately restart the operation of the furnace depending on the market.