Nippon Steel closes BF at its Muroran works

Nippon Steel closes BF at its Muroran works

Nippon Steel has decided to close blast furnace (BF) at its Muroran works, located in Hokkaido island of Japan due to an earthquake, that took place last week. The officials of the company state that, the shutdown is not due to a damage but for security. It is also added that BF will be temporarily closed and the mill will start re-operating in a very short time. Meanwhile, the wire and rod rolling mills are still operating. Hokkaido's sole integrated steel mill Muroran BF produced 1.4 million tons of crude steel in 2002.