On February 20, Japanese steelmaker JFE Steel Corp. (JFE) said that it will halt the operations of its No. 3 blast furnace at its western Japan works, in Fukuyama, Hiroshima, from the end of this month, due to lower demand.
The blast furnace, which has an annual output capacity of some 2.6 million mt of crude steel, is expected to be brought back into operation once demand recovers.
JFE also halted its No. 3 blast furnace at its Kurashiki works in western Japan, in mid-January.