The Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has announced the shutdown of its blast furnace No. 3 at its main production site in Lipetsk for maintenance works.
The maintenance works at BF No. 3, which has an annual capacity of 1.3 million mt of pig iron, include the complete replacement of the refractory and refrigerators and the partial replacement of the furnace shell. The project amounts to $3.5 million in value and is scheduled to be completed in December 2008.
As a result of this shutdown for maintenance, NLMK's annual pig iron production will decrease by 170,000 mt, which constitutes two percent of the total volume planned for 2008.