According to local Chinese media and a CISA report, based on the official announcement of Jianlong Group, one of the investors in Eastern Steel in Malaysia, a second blast furnace was officially launched at the plant on October 9, with the first batch of molten iron produced. The new BF is 1,380 cubic meters and is capable of producing 1.7 million mt per year.
The construction of the BF started in March 2020 and this summer the sintering plant and coke facilities were launched. The BF has been on trial production for the past two months.
To date, Eastern Steel has had one BF and its steelmaking capacity was 700,000 mt per year, according to the official information. The company can produce both slabs and billet, but the main focus is on slabs, traded mainly in the export market. With the new BF, the company is targeting to increase its steelmaking capacity from 700,000 mt up to 2.7 million mt, as reported by investors at the start of the second phase of this project, which is now finished.
The third phase of the project includes installation of the hot strip line with about 2 million mt per year capacity, and it is planned for next year. Market sources believe the first commercial HRC production will be in the second half of 2024.
The start of the new BF at Eastern Steel has been awaited by market participants as it was expected to lead to an increase in slab supply in the international market. However, according to a few major buyers in Turkey and Europe, the producer has not started active negotiations for slabs so far. In the Southeast Asian market, offers for slabs from Eastern Steel have been reported at around $513-518/mt FOB, according to SteelOrbis. Market sources believe that the supplier will try to focus on neighboring markets for the near future.
Some market sources have shared the opinion that the first sales after the new BF launch will be in the form of pig iron.