The Ukrainian steelmaker Azovstal, a subsidiary of the Ukrainian iron ore and steel producing company Metinvest Holding, has announced the decommissioning of its BF No. 5 until such time as the situation in the steel market sees an improvement and demand for steel products increases.
Accordingly, Azovstal has decided to maintain operations at four of its six blast furnaces; BF No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6. As previously reported by SteelOrbis, in line with the program directed toward modernization of the mill's main production equipment, on September 20 of current year Azovstal decommissioned its BF No. 1.
During the current time of crisis, Azovstal's decision to maintain production at four BFs is aimed at ensuring an optimal production workload and also at covering the demand of its customers.
During the month of October 2008, Azovstal registered a 14.1 percent decrease in its crude steel output to 411,900 mt, an 11.8 percent drop in its pig iron production to 359,800 mt, and a 15.2 percent fall in its finished steel output to 373,500 mt, all compared with the data for the previous month.