An explosion occurred at ArcelorMittal Spain's blast furnace A at its Veriña plant in Gijón, Spain, forcing the temporary shutdown of the furnace, according to Spanish media reports.
The explosion occurred on Wednesday, September 9, as a result of sudden vaporization at the tuyere platform. No injuries were reported. ArcelorMittal Spain is currently carrying out repairs to the damaged equipment while preparing the blast furnace for its restart on Saturday, September 12.
Blast furnace A forms part of integrated Asturias operations
Blast furnace A, together with blast furnace B, forms part of ArcelorMittal Spain's integrated steelmaking operations in Asturias and produces pig iron for subsequent steel production.
Meanwhile, Asturias regional minister of science, industry and employment Borja Sánchez stated that he expects the incident not to affect the pace of ArcelorMittal Spain's planned investments in the region aimed at maintaining steel production in Asturias.
ArcelorMittal Spain's Asturias operations are undergoing a decarbonization transition that includes the gradual replacement of conventional steelmaking equipment with electric arc furnaces to reduce carbon emissions.
