Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel Ltd has announced that it has completed the construction of the new continuous caster No. 6 and the expansion of the existing bloom mill No. 2 at its Kakogawa Works in western Japan.
According to Kobe Steel’s statement, it plans to shut down the blast furnace and other upstream facilities at its Kobe Works at the end of October this year and consolidate them at its Kakogawa Works. The company has invested a total of about JPY 65.5 billion ($577 million) in this consolidation, which is anticipated to improve profitability by about JPY 15 billion ($132.14 million) per year. Meanwhile, the investment in the new continuous caster No. 6 and bloom mill No. 2 is a part of the consolidation plan.