Japanese steelmaker JFE Steel Corporation has announced that it has restarted the blast furnace No. 4 at its Kurashiki plant, following the completion of revamping works. Modernization of the blast furnace cost approximately JPY 50 billion ($439.78 million).
With the revamping, blast furnace No. 4’s inner volume was expanded from 5,005 m3 to 5,100 m3, which will ensure optimum post-steelmaking production capacity in conjunction with the new No. 7 continuous casting machine that started up in June 2021. New features were also added to the furnace to reduce operating costs. Also, the raw material transfer capacity was upgraded, new equipment was installed in the cast house, and the cooling systems were improved to extend the service life of the blast furnace body.
JFE Steel stated that it will continue to monitor trends in steel demand to ensure that its production operations remain capable of swiftly meeting evolving demands.