Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel has announced that it will increase the internal capacity of the blast furnace No. 4 at its Yawata Works by 18 percent.
The overhaul is expected to start in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2012-13 with an investment of JPY 34 billion ($410 million). The works are scheduled to be completed in 85 days.
Nippon Steel stated that the overhaul of the blast furnace No. 4 commissioned in February 1998 will help solidify the company's competitive strength in the manufacture of iron and steel in the global market.