Yenakievo Iron and Steel Works, a steelmaking subsidiary of the Ukrainian mining and steel producing group Metinvest, plans to complete the construction of its new blast furnace No. 3 by the middle of next year.
Accordingly, the new BF No. 3 is expected to be commissioned in July 2011 and will allow the company to conduct a planned modernization of its BF No. 1.
"The unit's commissioning will boost Yenakievo's annual pig iron production capacity to 3.1 million mt from the current 2.5 million mt, and the timeline reflects our expectation that the No. 3 unit's construction will be completed in H2 2011, with maximum capacity reached in early 2012. The small postponement of the unit's launch (originally slated for Q1 2011) is likely the result of technical upgrades aimed at decreasing marginal coke use and at diversifying the unit's capacities to use different types of iron ore products," BG Capital analyst Eugen Dubogryz said.