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On June 24, Austria-based plantmaker Siemens VAI announced that it will renovate the blast furnace No.1 of ArcelorMittal Tubarão, the world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal's slab and flat steel producing subsidiary located in the Grande Vitória region of Brazil's Espírito Santo state.
 
According to the statement released by Siemens VAI, the blast furnace in question has been in use for over 26 years, making it the world's longest serving blast furnace to date. Siemens will dismantle and rebuild the blast furnace within a shutdown period of 80 days. The modernization project is worth over €10 million.
 
The existing blast furnace No. 1, at the ArcelorMittal Tubarão site, has an internal volume of 4,415 cubic meters. Its annual melting capacity is 3.3 million tons, which is about half the company's crude iron production. Since it came into operation in November 1983, the furnace has produced over 85 million metric tons of hot metal, more than any other blast furnace.
 
With an annual capacity of 7.5 million metric tons of crude iron, ArcelorMittal Tubarão produces semi-finished products in various grades of steel, for use in the automotive and construction industries, as well as in shipbuilding and pipeline construction.