Hungary-based steel producer Dunaferr was forced to shut down its second blast furnace on September 16 for a week, due to the lack of coke as it could not pay its suppliers, according to local media reports. The company’s Austrian partner Donau Brennstoffkontor GmbH refused to deliver coke to Dunaferr.
The company also shut down its first blast furnace with an annual steel production capacity of 550,000 mt on August 26 for 60 days.
These shutdowns directly affect pig iron and steel production. As a longer shutdown would make it impossible for the company’s operations to survive due to the costs of restarting the furnaces, Dunaferr has to restart the blast furnaces quickly, requiring coke supply in necessary quality and quantity within a week.
In addition, the company believes that it can only cope with the current energy crisis with government help through measures to lower energy prices.