Esfahan Steel's third blast furnace comes on stream

The third blast furnace of Iranian steelmaker Esfahan Steel commenced production of cast iron on July 23, the company's new managing director Mr. Hokmollah Babaie has stated, adding that the blast furnace will be formally inaugurated by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the coming week.
 
Mr. Babaie said that an investment of about $98 million plus Rials 1.27 trillion (about $127 million) has been spent on the project. The third blast furnace has a 2,000 cubic meter volume and an annual capacity of 1.4 million mt of cast iron.
 
Up to now Esfahan Steel has had an annual capacity of 2.2 million mt of crude steel and 2.7 million mt of finished long products but will achieve a capacity of 3.6 million mt of crude steel with its new blast furnace and a few other development projects.