Severstal Cherepovets, the main steel producing facility of Severstal Russian Steel, has announced the recommissioning of its 1.1 million mt capacity blast furnace (BF) No. 2, following the completion of capital repairs, the cost of which amounted to Ruble 850 million (about $29 million).
Accordingly, the capital repairs of the 1,033 cubic meter BF No. 2, which was stopped in December 2008 due to under use in the crisis period and due to its physical condition, were carried out in line with Severstal Cherepovets' program for the reduction of its production costs. The furnace is to reach its designed capacity within two months.
"The recommissioning of BF No. 2 and, consequently, the increase of pig iron production will provide an opportunity to select the optimum ratio of pig iron and scrap in the charge for converters, which is important in the context of the constant increase of secondary raw material prices. The restart of the BF is a major step in the implementation of the program for the increase of the production efficiency of the company in 2010," Severstal Cherepovets' general director Anatoly Kruchinin said.
Following the restart of BF No. 2, Severstal Cherepovets will operate four BFs, with a combined capacity of 8.943 million mt of pig iron per year. The plant's BF No. 3 is currently out of operation due to reconstruction.