Dongnan Steel Industry’s 1,280 m3 blast furnace to start production in May

On March 2, Xuzhou, Jiangsu-based Chinese steelmaker Dongnan Steel Industry Co. announced that its new 1,280 m3 blast furnace and associated steelmaking and rolling facilities are currently in the final phase of installation and debugging. The new blast furnace - the first blast furnace with a capacity of over 1,000 m3 to be built in Xuzhou city - is expected to start production on May 1 this year. It will increase Dongnan Steel Industry's annual output capacity by 1.5 million mt to 3 million mt.
 
Construction of the new blast furnace and associated facilities commenced on March 28 last year, while the total investment involved is RMB 3 billion.
 
Dongnan Steel Industry is now preparing to apply for official permission to construct a second 1,280 m3 blast furnace, in line with its plans to build two more 1,280 m3 blast furnaces in the coming two to three years. These new blast furnaces would increase the company's annual steel output capacity to 6 million mt.