Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) has announced that it will reline blast furnace No. 2 of Hokkai Iron & Coke Corporation that has the pig iron facilities at NSSMC’s Muroran Works, and will refurbish coke oven No. 3 of Nagoya Works, as part of its major initiatives “to strengthen ‘manufacturing capabilities’ of domestic mother mills”.
The investment for the blast furnace relining is estimated at JPY 35 billion ($308.95 million), while the repair period is planned to start in the second half of calendar year 2020. The coke oven with an annual capacity of 800,000 mt is scheduled to restart operation in the first half of the financial year 2021 and the investment is expected to be JPY 57 billion ($503.1 million).