Production operations at "Ayse", one of the two blast furnaces at Turkish Erdemir Group's Eregli mill, are going to be terminated on April 1, 2008. Thus, the blast furnace in question, which has been running very efficiently since 1965, will have reached the end of its lifespan without experiencing any problems.
The company announced in its statement that a replacement for Ayse, called "New Ayse," which will be the first blast furnace installed with Turkish engineering and Erdemir Group's own technical capabilities, is planned to be put into operation. This new blast furnace, which is supposed to extend the production capacity of the group for hot metals and crude steel, is expected to be commissioned in 1.5 months' time.