Australia's OneSteel extends furnace shutdown

Australia's OneSteel extends furnace shutdown

Australia's second largest steel producer, OneSteel has announced that a fire at its Whyalla plant blast furnace has caused further damage to the already malfunctioning blast furnace in its southern Australian plant. As SteelOrbis previously reported, OneSteel's Whyalla plant blast furnace had experienced technical problems last week caused by a build up of material inside the blast furnace which disrupted iron flow and caused metal contamination. After last week's malfunction, OneSteel officials had estimated a loss of around 35'000 tons of crude steel production. However, as a result of the fire which ignited at the Whyalla plant yesterday, company officials are now estimating a loss of approximately 80'000 tons of crude steel production and a loss of roughly 9% in earnings. While the original malfunctions last week at the Whyalla plant were expected to be solved and a return to normal operation was expected this week, OneSteel officials now state that yesterday's fire at the plant will delay operations at the plant for at least another two weeks. The company has stated that the financial cost of last week's malfunction and yesterday's fire would be about A$30 million ($22 million).